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Book 




/ . THE COLONIAD: 

NARRATIVE IN VERSE 



WASHINGTON'S WAR. 



TOGETHER, WITH AN 



OEul0giiim ta i\i Cljitf Dtro anJr ^is P^numenl 



DEDICATED TO THE 



EQUE|TE,rAN STATUE OF WASHINGTON, 



IN RICHMOND. 



BY A. MITCUELL. 



RICHMOND: 

1858. 







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TMM (0©E.(D)HIIAID) s 



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Still from the hills he sees more troops descend, 
His eyes, dilated, now in wonder bend : 
Meantime, his Ccelim bounds with joy to see 
This vast assemblage, nerved by martial glee : 
He, like his master, casts his eyes afar, 
His spirit bounding with the feet that rear. 
Firm on his stirrups now the Chieftain boars, 
His arm uplifted o'er his horse's ears . 
His finger points beyond brave Ccelim s h^gd, 
To something hideous that now stirs his «^ad. 

P<7-f 5 59-84. 

J 
/ 



' Secured according- 'U act of Congicss, &c. 



PREFACE. 



Ip, in the fallowing pages, I have set forth anything in praise of the 
heroes who have inspired them, I shall be rewarded for my labors by 
the approval of an intelligent and discriminating public. As to their 
merit as a poetical composition, that is a question to be decided by a 
critical analysis. I do not pretend to have donejustice to my subject, 
inasmuch as the labors of a month can bear no adequate comparison 
with a production which would occupy the space of nine years to 
complete, beautify, and adorn. Nor do I conceive that the feeble 
emanations of my pen are equal to the tasls of irradiating so sublime 
a subject. Let their merit be what it may in poetry, they can take 
nothing from, if they add nothing to, the praise of the great American 
Father. 

When it was announced that the 22nd of February, 1858, was the 
day appointed, on which the Inauguration of the Equestrian Statue ol 
Washington would take place, I proposed to write something in verse 
appropriated -to that occasioR and, in glancing over a condensed 
history of the Revolution, which a friend happened to loan me, the 
thought arose that I might oppo'lunely invest in verse the glowino- 
and soul-stirring incidents of that period. This production could be 
nothing more than a synopsical view of a broad and expansive field 
for the genuine bard ; and, if such a refined being exists on the shores 
of the New World, surely here is a subject for a master's pen. Instead 
of running into the reveries of unreal and imaginary themes, without 
a moral or a point to excuse the labor of their effusion, how much 
more usefully could the genius of America be applied to heroic 
subjects drawn from our own history. Then, instead of the taste of 
youth being vitiated by the effeminate illustrations of a vicious lite- 
rature, their minds would be trained and strengthened by an inspiring 
and lofty compilation, in prose or verse, of such subjects as grow out 
of more immediate and tangible incidents. Then would our youth, 
instead of ^fostering the unsatisfying and degenerating influence of 
scurrilous productions, in every form, be invited by the charms of 
poetry and prose into the more manly walks of the hero and the sago. 
On the one hand the epical emanations of the bard in praise of the real 



BOOK I. 



CANTO I. 

'Tis nature and not art that forms the bard, 
In vain be warbles without her accord; 
His verse, unsanction'd, with reluctance flows; 
And, without spirit, it but tamely soars : 
She gives the glow to genius, and her sketch, 
Where, through thought's vista, museful landscapes stretch, 
And opens to the genuine and the true, 
Those mental treasures which the false ne'er knew. 
Though Slander frets her consecrated seer, 
And spreads oblivion Ihro' each youthful year. 
Her holy impulse lives within his heart, 
And needs but circumstance to bid it start. 
'Tis this that makes monotony be borne. 
Where prosy bards distil their thoughts from stone. 
And scatter wither'd leaves along a path. 
That they have hew'd through adamant in wrath. 
Mankind are moved by that ethereal fire. 
That moves the genuine bard and will inspire; 
And fail not to acknowledge merit's due, 
More felt than seen as they his verse pursue. 
The flowing style — the bold and martial strain 
Will wake in them a mute symphonious vein ; 
And, warm'd and nurtur'd by the poet's fire 
The canvas bri<i;htens as their souls admire. 



THE COLONIAD. < 

Thus much in prelude : Now my thoughts must turn 

To one who slowly rises from his urn ; 

The Worthy Father of the brave and free, 

Who sought an untried path to Liberty; 

And won it by his bright, untarnish'd sword* — 

A costly boon on him and his bestow'd : 

And since my Muse has waved her modest wing, 

Me this day moves, like other bards, to sing; 

And, slowly rising, to the task I bend, 

Invoking her bright aid as I ascend : 

As through the stratas of ethereal air, 

Along Apollo's walks I fain repair, 

And cull ambrosia from the flowers divine, 

That blossom in the gardens of the Nine ; 

No puerile strain my Country's Chief demands, 

A theme so vital thus with verse expands: 

Long had our fathers bow'd the knee to Baal: 
Long did King George's iron will prevail: 
Long were his cruel deeds by them endur'd. 
Ere they resolved to check their tyrant-lord. 
Virginia's House of Burgesses had met — 
Upon its action all their hopes were set: 
Among them was a young Demosthenes, 
Doom'd soon to shake the tyrant of the seas. 
The crowning " «c/," that gave the tyrant scope 
To *' stamp " oblivion on each cherish'd hope : 
To do Virginia's interests vital harm, 
And paralyze Industry's fruitful arm — 
Had wing'd th' Atlantic to Columbia's shore, 
And rous'd a flame but quench'd in British gore. 
The warlike HexNry lit the torch of war. 
And first repudiated England's law : 

* Frederick the Great made a present to Washington ofa very splendil 6w,)rd, 
as a testimony of his ailiniiation for lliu world's be^l gdneral. 



O THE COLONIAD. 

Inspired with a true Acbillian zeal, 
He fir'd each Burgess with his bold appeal: 
Set full in motion the revolving ball, 
Whose motive was his country's rise or fall : 
Whose impulse was its freedom or its grave, 
That only solace of the baffled brave. 
The fire now kindled by his burning speech, 
Attemper' d with like zeal all in its reach. 
And, glaring forth from the Atlantic strand. 
Demanded justice of their father -land. 
This was denied them by the Royal George, 
Back'd by an army to act as a scourge, 
Meanwhile our countrymen had marshal'd forth, 
To meet the invader in th' up-rous'd North, 
Who deem'd his colonies an easy prey, 
To troops disciplined for the bloody fray. 
Heaven approved the justice of our cause, 
And gave success through the impending wars; 
Raised to our standard men approv'd and true, 
Whose love of country had no selfish view: 
Whose love of liberty, heartfelt and pure. 
Bade them, as victors, seven years' war endure: 
And, to ensure the dear and blood-bought prize, 
Heaven's fiat bade George Washington arise. 

The " Sons of Liberty " arose en masse, ^ 

Throughout the colonies, a wall of brass; 
These famed for virtue, and by valor sway'd. 
Thence Freedom's noblest attributes disulay'd; 
Which England's Parliament, by acts unjust, 
Essay'd to scatter to the very dust. 
First from Great Britain they were taught to stray, 
And shun the burthens of an earlier day : 
In depth of woods to give religion scope. 
Far from those shocks that stunn'd its earthly hope ; 
Bask in the sunlight of a happier day, 



THE COLONIAD. 

Free from the scathing glare of anarcijy. 

This uew-fouud shore, a broader range expos'd, 

Where energies, like theirs, were less oppos'd ; 

But civil strife had chafed the mother-laud, 

And forged those fetters for Industry's hand: 

A land by them remembered and rever'd, 

For kindred ties whioh absence had endear'd. 

When anchor'd on this wild and sylvan shore, 

Want much oppressed them, but the savage more; 

This they surmounted by a mother's care. 

And look'd, with gratitude, alone to her: 

Built by industry for themselves a home, 

Where they had hop'd oppression would not come, 

Here they, in forests of primeval growth, 

Had nought, as capital, but sinewy worth. 

In vain they lean'd upon their mother's arm. 

The hand that led them wa» the first to harm ! 

The rod that chasten'd taught them to be free, 

And pointed out the path to Liberty. 

Her forest-child, whom she would now restrain, 

Resists the rod, but not the gentle rein : 

Curbed by a mother, whose now jealous thoes 

Alone had from her daughter's thrift arose. 

Now England's colonies defiant stand, 

And ask but justice from a parent's hand : 

This boon once granted, they to duty turn, 

And no more with resentment deign to burn : 

Their grievous burthen from their shoulders thrown, 

They breathe more freely and refrain to groan: 

Peace's sunny smiles now soothe the cheerless path, 

Of late o'ershadow'd with the clouds of wrath. 

This short-lived peace is but a transient gleam, 

The airy creature of an idle dream. 

Loud rings the Parliament with wordy strife. 

New acts are passed to cramp colonial life : 



10 



THE COLONIAD. 



The sails are up to bear across the deep 

The Royal Act that bids its victims weep. 

Though press 'd by poverty, they now protest, 

And spurn the edicts of the Royal Breast. 

The State Assemblies now in union join, 

And form a Congress, and its powers assign. 

This Congress, delegated, feels the wrong. 

And blazes with resentment, deep and strong: 

Chafed with the goadings of King George's spur, 

It rolls defiance on the tyrant's ear: 

Stands as a mental wall around the States, 

To check the foe now at their Country's gates; 

Among the members sat a man of worth, 

Who claim'd Virginia as his land of birth. 

His grandsire's mansion iu Westmoreland stood, 

Hard by Potomac's consecrated flood; 

Here, on an arm of this majestte tide, 

Which takes the name of one of classic pride. * 

Th' estate of Wakefield spreads its fertile soil, 

Pluck'd from the forest by the hand of toil. 

The hardy pioneer from England came, 

And John his christian, or baptismal name ; 

Here he pursued the peaceful walks of life, 

With nought to fret him but the Indian's knife: 

(For at that day the Colonies were still. 

And knew no law but England's iron will) — 

Shed on his race tlie lustre of a name. 

Distinguish 'd by a valor without blame ! 

When to the grave time swept the pfoneer, 

His mourners sorrow'd deeper than a tear; 

He left a son to heir a fair estate — 

Whose son was sire of Washington the Great. 

[So saith the Chronicles — and these are all 

That can the past to mortal man recall.] 

« Pope's deck. 



THE COLONIAD. 



11 



The sire of George in early manhood died, 

And left an orphan'd and a widow'd bride; 

Augustine was the hero's sire's name, 

Grandson of John, and of a quiet fame. 

Twice sought Augustine the hymeneal bovv'r, 

And fis'd his love upon a tender flower, — 

A lady of as kind and gentle mien, 

As ere look'd gracious from a soul serene: 

This lady, whom Augustine made his bride. 

And cherish'd with a husband's jealous pride. 

Was called, ere long, to see that beauty sear'd. 

Which charm'd ere won, when won had been rever'd : 

Her merry laugh had rang within his ear, 

In some gay sally that might flatter her; 

Her flute-like voice, thrilling through his soul, 

In its deep centre held a charm'd control. 

But Fate, unmindful of all human ties. 

Swept this fair being from his ravish'd eyes. 

Two sons were left to moan her tender care, 

And cheer a husband she had cheer'd while here. 

Through his broad house he hears that voice no more, 

That charm'd in joy and oft had sooth'd in woe; 

Her tender form is press'd by servile clay, 

Th' ethereal essence ebbs itself away. 

Time, the "Consoler, now restores again 

The wounds that Fate had long surcharg'd with pain. 

Slow rising from the grief that chilled Iiis lieart, 

(Where stretch'd at length by Fate's malignant dart,) 

He enters softly the hymeneal bow'r, 

And plucks again another lovely flow'r : 

The lovely lady whom he made his bride. 

Was Mary Ball, who once more roused his pride; 

A lady famed for all that winning grace, 

That can be marshal'd in a faultless face : 

With temper soften'd by religion's lore. 

Drawn from the streams that through the Scriptures flow: 



12 



THE COLONIAD. 



The harshness of her heart, subdued, and thrill'd, 

By holy oil, from heavenly grace distill'd. 

From this sweet lady sprang our Country's Sire ; 

From her his piety — from her his fire ! 

She pruned the twig that into manhood sprung, 

And train'd those virtues that around him hune : 

(Far safer than the arms which Vulcan wrought, 

Which gentle Thetis to Achilles brought) — 

Virtues that acted as his guide in war. 

And filled each foeman with a conscious awe: 

More sacred than the o'ershadowing shield, 

'Neath which Achilles took the Trojan field. 

In vain did the Indian at the warrior aim — 

The ball was lead, the powder only flame: 

The leaden hail flew fast and thick around, 

Now on his armor, then upon the ground : 

The modern hero will presume 'twas chance, 

That led this warrior through the gory dance — 

That Virtue's panoply had nought to do. 

In this grand drama which we now review. 

But far above Napoleon's soars his fame, 

Whose valor centred in a virtuous name : 

Above the C.esars' rose his name's renown. 

Whose country's freedom was his cherish'd. crown: 

Above Cambyses, in his rolling car, 

W^ho spoke his terrors into Egypt's ear: 

Without that bustle and burlesque display, 

That mark'd these demagogues, he chose his way. 

Full sway'd by virtue and in right equipt, 

The Gordian knot of wrong at once he dipt: 

Bore down before him all the mongrel foes. 

That swarm'd like locusts on his native shores : 

Foil'd the vain efi"orts of a crafty King — 

In valor, stratagem — in everything! 

This, Virginians ! was your Country's Sire, 

Whose virtues none so low but must admire ; 



THE COLONIAD. 1 

This was the champion who had battled long, 

To wring our rights from hiin who done us wrong. 

He lost his father in his infant years, 

Ere he could trace the source of falling tears : 

He saw the dew-drop in his mother's eye, 

He heard her low but spirit-wafted sigh ; 

His then sweet prattle cheer'd her widow'd heart, 

And sooth'd the wounds that fate had caused to smart. 

She kept upon her son a tender eye, 

And taught him how to live and how to die; 

Her lessons guarded him to man's estate, 

And made him what he was, both good and great. 

Her kind regard by him was duly weighed, 

Her counsel foUow'd and her will obey'd — 

When laudable ambition fir'd his soul. 

To scale the bulwarks of her sage control, 

Her silver voice woos back his absent mind. 

And golden cords his haughty tempers bind. 

But last and latest was he led to stray. 

From the charm'd compass of his mother's sway. 

Lord Fairfax first the budding hero led, 

To quit his mother and paternal shed. 

It pained his nature, but his manhood's claim 

Call'd him to duty and a worthy name. 

First as Surveyor, at his patron's will, 

And next a Major's office doom'd to fill. 

The unquiet aspect of the Indian race, 

That thro' Virginia roved from place to place, 

Had called the quiet Colonists to arms, 

To still the turbulence of war's alarms. 

Young Washington was chosen as their head, 

And forth to battle was his army led. 

The gentle Adjutant the Province sway'd, 

By means more christian than the modern grade ! 

Unlike those warriors with their hearts of stone, 

Who spoil a province to enrich their own ! 



14 THE COLONIAD. 

Unlike the vainly-fillibustering band, 

That pierce republics with a dastard hand ; 

Without the pretext of a bare offence, 

To give their cause a show of innocence. 

Away ! such demons to their native hell, 

Where knavery, such as their's, alone should dwell ! 

Not so the Sire that fought in Freedom's cause, 

His acts are measurM by the world's applause : 

Not so the chieftain whom we this day place, 

In a similitude of warlike grace ! 

He spurn'd such conduct — and alive again, 

Would beat his breast with all a Father's pain! 

He spuru'd such conduct — and would nobly dare 

To shield the innocent whom spoilers tear ! 

But "folly has its saints" — and these are ihey ; — 

Vice is retributive, and will repay 1 

This generous Washington, we honor so, 

But claims to-day* the tribute that we owe: 

Then let us with a full and free heart grant, 

The gratitude we yield — the praise we chant I 

This mighty freeman, in his youthful days, 

Served England's king, and let it be his praise : 

Serv'd him before those graver wrongs ensued, 

That with remonstrance all her States imbrued. 

When France had threaten'd to disjoin her lands. 

He, with his compeers, gave their hearts and hands ; 

Flew to the wilds, where French and Indians swarm'd, 

Like bees in summer, when their hive is storm'd. 

Lieutenant-Colonel was the hero's style. 

Which office he received with grateful smile. 

Wrong could not sway him, but right ever led — 

His valor of the heart, and not the head : 

His king insulted by a Vandal crew — 

The spoilers came — to arms the hero flew ! 

*The day of llie inauguration of Wasliingtcn's Equestrian Stalue--February 



THE COLONIAD. 15 

But now no Washington exists in fact, 
His copyists mistake him in each act : 
And some have not the virtue to desire 
The justice of the man they must admire. 
The French were driven from their native soil, 
And peace had dawned upon the yeoman's toil, 
When graver evils, in another form, 
Brew'd in the Colonies a broader storm, 
This was resisted with a zealous hand, 

'Till sacred peace again o'erspread the land ! 

# * # # # 

They raised a statue when the King had smil'd, 
They hurl'd it down so soon as he recoil'd! 
Upon the hills the beacon fires now blaze, 
To warn the people and their hopes to raise : 
Throughout their counties and uniting states, 
A bold militia England's rage awaits : 
These choose their leaders and decide their course, 
Resolved on justice or their lord's divorce. 
The Hessian soldiers now from ocean pour, 
And stand like maize on the Atlantic's shore : 
Their polish'd arms, now glist'ning in the sun. 
Brings to their view each hostile myrmidon ! 



16 



THE COLONIAD. 



CANTO II. 

Thus far, Muse of mine ! thou bast bestow'd 
Thy buoyancy, and cheer'd me on my road : 
So, in my mental walk, niay'st thou prolong 
That unction that alone inspires my song. 

The hostile ranks, now from their ships embark'd, 
With proud disdain through Boston city walk'd: 
Loud roll'd their drums upon the startled ear 
Of quiet citizens, assembled here, — 
The sounding streets reveal their heavy tread, 
While warlike banners flutter overhead. 
Now fly the timid from iheir threaten'd homes, 
W^ith terror smitten by the waving plumes : 
The soldiers banquet at relinquished boards, 
And raffle for the charms that Beauty hoards : 
The night is giddy with the song and dance. 
And revel lingers till the morn's advance. 

' Now rosy Solus through his lattice peeps, 
And from his face the mists of ocean sweeps : 
Mounts his bright chariot to invade the skies, 
And banish darkness as his chariot flies. 
Along the heights of Massachusetts Bay, 
The patriots gather by the break of day: 
Each Province had its levied troops supplied, 
Sway'd by a just and patriotic pride: 
These, now assembled, form'd a lengthy line, 
To rescue Boston and in arms to shine. 



THE COLONIAD. _ 17 

The British host on these as rebels look'd : 
These by the British deem'd themselves provok'd. 
Their wrongs, all-eloquent, to Heaven plead, 
And nerve their arms to strike their foemen dead ; 
Those foeraen who had come to sap their lands, 
And tax the toil that blessed their brawny hands. 
The flower of England had been marshall'd here, 
Who view'd America with little fear. 
Self-confident and boastful of their pow'r, 
Small care had they for clouds that o'er them low'r : 
The storm might brew — the sweeping winds advance, 
Their arms could check a lesser power than France ! 
How could the host, they doom'd as rebels, cope 
With troops disciplin'd and susta'in'd by hope : 
That hope that in a monarch's power resides, 
Whose fleet, victorious, on the ocean rides : 
Whose sail, in every sea, had fill'd with dread, 
The foe who stay'd to bleed as he who fled ? 

The "Sons of Liberty " that, meanwhile, met, 
View'd their resistance with no vain regret; — 
They saw the justice of their cause— and that 
Bade them injustice in their King combat. 
Their patriotism, now, no medium knew 
Between their freedom and a grave in view ! 
From first essaying to assert a claim, 
They thought of riddance from a servile name: 
Pleased with the prospect that before them rose. 
They fought and quell' d America's proud foes ; 
Those foes who, first at Lexington o'erthrown. 
Were bafiled by the arm they held in scorn : 
Drew up a Bill of Eights, and with their swords 
Sustain'd the purport of its thrilling words; — 
Spread through the Colonies a patriot-glow, 
That love of freedom only can bestow ! 



18 THE COLONIAD. 

Now was the siege at Boston warmly pvess'd- 
The ships, at anchor in the Bay, distress'd — 
As from the heights that rise above the bay, 
The roar of cannon marks the kindling fray ; 
The foe in the city feel the galling fire — 
The floating batteries, with their guns, retire. 
Lord Percy now his various plans suggests — 
Views with regret his vessels in distress ; 
Marshals his troops to storm the odious heights, 
"Where bold Americans assert their rights; — 
Swift flew the bounding ball, tlie scatter'd shell, 
Each in the city and the harbour tell. 
Meantime, a tempest of another kind 
Arose, distressing to Lord Percy's mind : 
The indignant waters of the angry bay, 
Drove his chief vessels from their port away ; 
While swollen numbers of colonial troops. 
Increase the burthen 'neath wliich Percy stoops! 
Vain were his efi"orts to dislodge the foe, 
And, in despair, he leaves the hated shore : 
His troops, in Boston, to their ships repair, 
And quit the harbor with a fiendish air. 
To distant Halifax the fleet is borne. 
Where Nova Scotia rears her brow of stone ; 
And, anchor'd in Chebucto's friendly bay, 
Await new levies to renew the fray. 
Here fish and oysters plenteously abound, 
But cold and barren is the stubborn ground : 
On these they feast with Epicurean joy, 
Safe in Howe's quarters where no shells annoy. 
Meantime had Congress stretch'd a nervous arm. 
To shield the Provinces from vital harm : 
Their scatter'd forces, without head or guide, 
Had met and turn'd the invader's arm aside ! 
Its eye of wisdotn on their safety turns, 
While its great bosom with resentment burns; 



THE COLONIAD. 19 

It saw Americans in every field, 

Impell'd by courage that disdain'd to yield; 

It saw the fetters that a crafty king, 

Around the Provinces would proudly fling : 

It saw them — and resolved to thwart his aim, 

By deeds emblazon' d on the roll of fame ! 

Lords Howe and Percy were the guiding stars. 

That faintly twinkled in the Northern wars : 

These led the invasion with a potent fleet, 

And gallant crews, that valor must defeat ! 

Now swells the war with every angry tide. 

That springs from anarchy and fiercely glide : 

King Gteorge's fury had unbounded swoop. 

He sent his legions in a gaudy group : 

Now through the streets of Halifax they wind, 

A solid body, with one heart and mind : 

Up to the arsenal they bend their way. 

And join their compeers in the bloody fray. 

Loud shout his soldiers as they dance along, 

Cheer'd by that confidence that nerves the strong. 

Now, at the armory, they ground their arms. 

Rest their fierce banners, and withdraw in swarms. 

Meanwhile their generals and their aids debate. 

On the late siege and its unhappy fate ; 

New schemes they there devise — new measures take, 

To crush the rebels and their army shake. 

From Nova Scotia now they cast their eyes. 

To Staten Island, where their stronghold lies : 

Their generals order, and their aids command ; 

They all embark, the vessels quit the land. 

From the Peninsula they glide away : — 

Ten thousand soldiers cross Chebucto bay ! 

Swift to the Island they are borne along — 

The winds are constant and the vessels strong. 

They reach the Island, and proceed to land, 

'Midst sundry skirmishes upon the strand; 



20 



THE COLONIAD. 



The startled natives view, with much dismay, 

The vessels hiving such a host as they ! 

Now pouring forth upon the naked shore, 

Both horse and foot, a formidable foe; 

They sweep in columns to the level plain. 

Where timid natives there resist in vain; 

They pitch their tents in circles on tlie ground, 

With cannoniers and cannon placed around. 

Here Thyon * views them with a partial eye, 

And to their aid his muster'd forces fly. 

His loyal intrigues with Lord Percy here, 

Had reach'd George Washington's attentive ear, 

(For Congress gave to Washington command 

Of all its forces, on the sea and land ; 

And, when the siege of Boston had transpirVI, 

That Congress was with admiration fired : 

It granted him a medal as his meed, f 

And thank'd him for the meritorious deed.) 

His pious mind had learn'd from early youth, 

To sweep away the fogs that hide the truth; 

And hence, with caution, he survey'd his plan. 

Before he moved, or ere his work began. 

Religion was the great and glorious shield. 

That overshadow'd him in every field: 

'Gainst which the darts of envy vainly runo- 

His eye on truth, his hope on justice huno- : 
He brav'd the consequence in reaching right, 
And falter'd not when he approach'd the light. 

So blessed was he — this heavenly-guarded man 

That Prudence loan'd her glass that he might scan ! 
He saw disaster in its embryo-form, 
And, meditating, thence aroids the storm. 

* A kind of Sancho Panca-the governor of an island. 

t Congress voted him a golden medal for \{m action at the siege rf B..sf.,n 
wiih a nation s thanks. ° ' 



THE COLONIAD. 21 

This bore hiin through the hardships of his war — 

For Prudence was his creed, and Justice law. 

Full in the face of this despoiling foe, — 

Led on by Percy and disposed by Howe — 

The mighty Chieftain, through the streets of York, 

With all his forces, fam'd for valor, walk ! 

Here love of liberty but faintly glow'd, 

And patriotism was in vain bestow'd; 

For e'en the Mayor * gave the invader's cause, 

His approbation and his full applause : 

Against our Chief his envious nature stir'd, 

Grieved at the virtues that the world rever'd ; 

Deign'd to arouse an insurrection there, 

To sweep the hero from the field of war ! 

But that wise Providence that rules us all, 

Doom'd this arch-traitor and his aids should fall ; 

The servile citizens (his willing dupes), 

Sprang to his call and leagued with British troops; 

The prudent Chieftain foiled the crafty Mayor 

And took his colleagues in the veteran's! snare. 

(A cause fallacious and unjust in fact, 

Rear'd by those genii who in darkness act, 

Draws its adherents through the force of fear, 

Or else the allurements that in gold appear!) 

These duly punisli'd for example's sake, 

The bold are silent and the timid quake. 

There Liberty her plumage trails in dust, 

Her friends are few, her eneniies unjust : 

Their secret intrigues with the public foe, 

Our Chieftain fathoms and proceeds to cure. 

But who can kindle in a servile breast, 

That patriotism which the free invest? 

How can the drivel of a servile spawn, 

The attributes of freemen thu.s put on? 

*He endeavored to betray Washington into the hands of the British gcnci:il. 
+ The commander-in-chief of the American forces. 



9-2 



THE COLOMAD. 



Yet there were noble spirits here, who threw 
Their weight with Liberty — but they were few ! 
These kiudled with new zeal as treach'ry spread, 
And thence espous'd the cause in which they bled! 
Around the standard of their country's chief, 
They gather'd and combin'd for its relief. 
Meantime had Congress with new ardor burn'd. 
Since their complaints by Parliament were spurn'd : 
The cause of Freedom greater progress- made, 
And vaster plans for action were array'd". 
lu seeking that redress from England due, 
The charms of Liberty more brightly grew ! 
Our sages hence (for wisdom more renown'd), 
At once on Britain and its tyrant frown'd. 
New levies were enlisted — money raised, — 
Our armies strengthen'd and their valor prais'd. 
Meantime the Lion, in his island-lair, 
(His copious eyes put forth wiih amorous glare,) 
Hence meditates destruction to our arms. 
And with new energy his bosom warms. 
Now o'er the heaving bosom of the deep, 
His war-ships bound with animated sweep, 
Fill'd with platoons of mercenary drones, 
Who, for their bread, have barter'd future groans. 
The wolf now saunters in ihe woody steep, 
Thence flatter'd with the food he gains so cheap ! 
The bounding ball and the explosive shell. 
Here bounds the valley and explores the dell. 

Now on three islands the Provincials rest — 
Part are in Brooklyn, on the Hudson's breast. 
Led by bold Putnam, of undoubted fame, 
(Against base Tryon, he from Stamford came) ; 
Part in Manhattan, where their stronghold lay, 
And, part with cannon, form on New-York Bay. 



THE COLONIAD. 

But here the British in strong force collect, 
Land from the Stateu, and tlieir shores connect. 
Sir Henry Clinton (England's champion here,) 
March'd on our outposts with a haughty sneer : 
Loud beat the drums, the cannonade was brisk, 
His troops must pass — and that at every risk ; 
On to the charge ! the brave assailants come ; 
Here sounds the trumpet, there the deaf'ning di'um 
On to the slaughter of as brave a host, 
As e'er kept pass, or guarded an outpost. 
Now turns bold Sullivan his dauntless head, 
AVhere great De Heister plies his connonade: 
That moment lost — the vengeful Clinton waves 
His followers to tlieir glory or their graA^es ; 
The pass is taken in a gory walk — 
They wave their cimeters and onward stalk ! 
Here Stirling, Woodiiull, Sullivan were lost, 
Imprison'd in Sir Henry Clinton's host. 
Meantime the mighty Washington survev'd 
The field, now lost — and prudence hence obey'd : 
Saw, at a glance, 'twas folly to maintain, 
A longer station on the open plain; 
So, crossing over to the Brooklyn side, 
Entcr'd the village, and the Brit* defied. 
Now, on the shore, he marshall'd all his force ; 
His cannons ranged, his men embodied close. 
Lord HoAVE survey'd them through his telescope; 
Their numbers thicken, and he dared not hope : 
He ventur'd not to cross the fatal stream ; 
His terrors sprang not from an idle dream. 
Meantmie, the Americans (night coming on) 
Prepar'd to march before the morrow's dawn. 
Their prudent Chieftain saw resistance vam. 
And kept his war-escutcheon free from stain. 

*Sir William IIowc. 



23 



24 THE COLONIAD. 

Long ere the Sun resum'd bis golden crest, 
And gazed with ardor on Earth's jswe^^'d breast — • 
Where, through the lattice of her misty hills, 
The wooing courtesan with rapture thrills, — 
The Chieftain, with his shatter'd forces, stood 
Beyond the Hudson's broad and sweeping flood, 
Where Time would sooth Bellonci's haggard brow, 
And Mars with battle's rage refrain to glow ! 
(This was an exploit of the valiant chief, 
That Britain lauded with an envious grief: 
A stroke in tactics of decided skill — 
A stainless victory of the mind and will !) 

To King's Bridge Heights the Chieftain now withdraws, 
He breathes and meditates amidst the pause: 
Here he concerts new plans to foil the foe ; 
Forms his intrenchments, and secures his store. 
High on the steep his massive cannons blaze, 
Loud thundering on the foe, a fog they raise : 
Now, from the Heights, they gaze the vale around : 
Nought can be seen, beyond the smoking ground. 
Meantime bold Clinton, with a victor's pride. 
Winds his brave forces in a living tide ; 
Full in the city of New- York they pour — , 
Their heavy tread now shakes the solid shore: 
Up from its wharves (then but a country town,) 
Their horsemen hasten where no soldiers frown ; 
Along the streets the clang of hoofs are heard, 
The friends of freedom droop, of George are chcer'd ; 
Then in their rear the wgary soldiers pour. 
And find a welcome face at ev'ry door. * 
Now, for their quarters, they send scouts to search : 
When found, perchance ! are in some ample church. 
Now at the door, in vain the sexton swerves ; 
The key is in the lock, his heart unnerves. 

* A g od deal of (ruckling reigned here at that time, owing to the poi iiliirity 
of Gov. Tryon and his Sanclio Panza. 



THE COLONIAD. 25 

They enter here, and stack their heavy arms; 

The soldiers then, dismissed, seek Beauty's charms. 

When rosy Solus, from his ocean-bath, 

Arose to gild man's narrow, dreamy path, 

Loud neighed the steeds above their morning's meal, 

While drunken soldiers to their barracks reel: 

Loud rings the church with oaths and horrid din 

Unlike the hymn that 's sung, the sigh for sin 1 

The soldiers now are all restor'd to arms; 

The drums are beating, and the trump alarms : 

The gay dragooji now mounts his prancing steed, 

The general, on his charger, takes the lead: 

These, sweeping through the streets, seek foes ahead ; 

They march, and find them, to employ their lead. 

As on they sweep, the booming cannon roars; 

The cannons, in reply, confess their foes. 

The scouting horsemen dash with fury on , 

Their chargers champ the bit, as if in scorn. 

On sweep the host to King's Bridge, where they hn.lt ; 

If there defeated, 'twill not be their. fault: 

In numbers formidable, disciplin'd well — 

Who — what can check the rage that in them dwell? 

Like angry ocean, with its watery surge. 

That spends its fury on the beach's verge, 

The frothy waters, o'er the pebbles hurl'd, 

Lose their condenseness, and return unfurl'd 

So these despoilers, from Europea's shore. 

Shall spend their fury on a "stubborn foe"! 

'Till worn and wasted by disastrous war. 

Their army from our shores, perforce, withdraw ; 

But, ere this crisis, many a well-fought field 

Attests that valor which was last to yield! 



2G 



THE COLONIAD. 



CANTO III 



Now, face to face, the hostile armies gazed 
Behind intronchments which by each were raised : 
Here Washington array'd his bravest troops; 
And there Lord Howe disposed, in active groups. 
Great Washington solicitous, alone, 
How best to meet those hardships to be borne; 
And Howe, the Chieftain of the British host, 
Anon advancing, with a scornful boast: 
His object to engage his wcaken'd foe. 
And draw him from those quarters, now secure ; ^ 
But V/ashington, aware of his design, 
Advauc'd not yet beyond his outer line. 
Lord Howe, less scrupulous from conscious strength, 
Now sallies forth before his foe, at length : 
Attacks a wing of Washington's small force, 
With a selected body of light-horse : 
These, with a view to keep his vantage-ground, 
Are borne upon by guns of thund'ring sound. 
This well-timed effort saves his threaten'd wing. 
And Ho\ve's proud horsemen in confusion fling ; 
His tow'ring vanity this check disdains. 
And throws his troopers on the open plains : 
Here Washington perceives the Brit's design, 
And forms his horsemen in a lengthy line. 
(The Chief had valor equal to the brave* 
Who saved the country he had sought to save : 
Economised his valor in the field. 
To guard against the fate that 's forced to yield !} 
These in the rear, with cannons rang'd around, 
Keep the invaders from his chosen ground. 

* Ei>aminonJas, 



THE COLONIAD. 27 

Meantime the British horsemen scour the iiill, 
With dashing air, and some intent to kill. 
Their gaudy uniforms attract the eye, 
As, on swift chargers, o'er the fields they Q.y. 
Now on the shores of Hudson, then again, 
They spend their valor on the naked plain. 
The sage-like Chieftain, with an eye serene, 
Surveys these sallies on the troopless green : 
He knew his power — and he judged of their's, 
From their self-confidence and hanghty airs : 
He knew his power — and how best to cope. 
With Britain's armies, with unbounded scope. 
His late defeat before Sir Henry's* force, 
Had bade him take a firm, inactive course : 
Behind intrenchments to perplex his foe, 
And guard the passes on the Hudson's shore. 
His army rested on a rising ground, 
Upon a creek that to the Hudson wound : 
This and the Hudson — where his tents arose, — 
Served as a bulwark to impede his foes. 
Meantime his cannons, from an open space, 
Play'd on Lord Howe and o'er the watery waste. 
No Chief could serve his country with more zeal, 
No statesman greater love of country feel — 
None ever breath'd a chivalry above 
The man we reverence, and the man we love! 
Behold him warring with a host of foes, 
Twice his in number, and disciplin'd corps: 
Behold him weaken'd by a sweeping tide, 
Of veteran warriors, from Europia's side : 
Behold him warring in the isle of York, 
Against bold Clinton, on his bloody walk ! 
Behold him! and admire, ye sons of those 
Who fought and vaa(|uished — all Columbia's foes ! 

*Clintoii. 



28 



THE COLONIAD. 



And, in beholding, reverence ye his dust; 
Tis held all sacred in Mount Vernon's trust ! 
[On Richmond Square the warrior lives again 
And thrills us now as on th' embattled plain ! 
Here view his monument — his martial force, 
As mounted on his now-immortal Horse. 
Long will the youth of future times admire 
His matchless mien — his Mars-descended fire 1 
Long will they brave the Atlantic's angry roar, 
To view this Mecca — Freedom's shrine adore ! 
Long will this shrine its pilgrim-freemen fire; 
The spot a sanctity henceforth acquire ! 
Long will the City that records his name, 
Breathe through the pages of historic fame ; 
That keeps all sacred in its holy pale, 
The Equestrian Figure in its warlike mail ! ] 

Foiled in Manhattan, by the Clinton crew, 
The Chief, with prudence, from the isle withdrew 
Bold CciNTON and his soldiers bore him down. 
And forced him to evacuate its town. 
This was a loss that Congress well deplor'd, 
But better yield the town than yield his sword ; 
Here, in his stronghold on the Hudson's side. 
He thought how best to guard that noble tide: 
His floating batteries in the river lay, 
Its banks surmounted by artillery : 
Those sweep the surface with their iron charge, 
And these, with mighty balls, explore at large. 
Here, duly rested from his labors past, 
The Chief, with caution, sallies forth at last : 
His men impatient to engage the foe, 
He bids them scour along the Hudson's shore. 
His rangers on the woody hills are seen ; 
His horsemen threaten on the naked green. 



THE COLONIAD. 29 

Meantime, our Chieftain, to decoy Lord Howe, 

Made mimic-movements that perplex'd the foe: 

Howe's horse had sallied on the open plain, 

To meet the CJiief's — on whom they bear in vain: 

That instant from the hills (each bush a man,) 

The leaden hail upon the plain began : 

This turned Howe's horse, and left his footmen there. 

To meet the fury of the kindling war. 

The Chieftain's troopers, with a ready hand, 

Assail'd this regiment (Howe's chosen band : ) 

These veteran soldiers bore the bloody fight. 

With all tlto.t valor that proud hearts incite: 

Howe griev'd to see his veterans thus opposed. 

Between the rangers and the horse enclosed ! 

On to the Chieftain's camp they now are borne, 

Beyond the aid of Howe or friends that mourn. 

Their guns are yielded (for their lives arc dear) ; 

These are the trophies of the vanquisher. 

# * # * * 

Now o'er the field they sally forth again : 
Lord Howe, more cautious, first survey'd the plain ; 
He sees those rangers in the bushes still. 
Whose balls had whistled from the fatal hill; 
He sees the horsemen on the bloody plain, 
The grass is redden' d by his troopers slain. 
Now o'er the hills his hardy Hessians bend. 
While to the plain his Highlanders descend : 
Those to engage the rifles on the hill; 
These, with their "grape," to, keep the horsemen still. 
This roused the valor of our mighty chief. 
Ami forth he salliecl to liis men's relief. 
Down through the vale his cannonade is heard ; 
The bounding ball upon the green career'd: 
Its crashing progress lays the common bare, 
His foes seek shelter from its scathing glare. 
Meantime his rangers with the Hessians war ; 
Ball sin^s to ball throu^fh the impassive air. 



30 THE COLONIAD. 

Th' Americans — with true, unerring aim — 

Pierced, witli their balls, each stubborn Hessian frame: 

Upon the hill, to feed the wolf and crow, 

Their bodies sank beneath the leaden blow. 

Lord Howe, unmindful of his Hessian band, 

Sees other troops debark upon the strand : 

His ships have anchor'd in the mighty tide. 

The boats are lower'd, and to land they glide. 

These, with a joy the brave alone must know, 

Light up his heart and bid his courage glow. 

Meantime his Hessians had been foil'd, and borne 

Where they, as mercenaries, must atone. 

Howe's Highland regiment had sought a wood, 

Which far apart from their intrenchment stood : 

Their silenced guns within the valley lay. 

Where vaster connonade annulled their sway. 

Now to the wood the scouring horse are sent, 

To intercept Howe's Highland regiment: 

Here in the wood, like deer within a park, 

The affrighted Highlanders with caution walk : 

They pause and listen, and then bend their eyes, 

O'er the fierce valley, where their cannon lies. 

Meantime the horse invade their refuge here. 

And fill each mercenary heart with fear: 

They yield reluctant to their captor's sword, 

And bend their steps to follow at his word. 

But here great Leitch and greater Knowlton fell, 

Stretch'd on the plain, by Howe's malignant shell : 

Their latest breath their fellow-soldiers laud, 

Who, for their liberty, alone had war'd. 

Their sorrowing comrades from the bloody plain," 

With pious care convey the heroes slain : 

The generous Washington their deaths deplore. 

And give them burial on the Hudson's shore. 

Now deep resentment in Howe's bosom stirs; 

The fiery lava from its crater tears; 



' THE COLONIAD. 31 

His dear lost Hessians, by the rebels slain, 

Had fed the crow upon the bloody plain; 

And his brave Highlanders, who form'd his- shield, 

On other shores; on this, are raade to yield! 

These tides of grief now through his bosom rolTd, 

As passion's billows bounded uncontroll'd : 

The lordly champion mounts his fiery steed, 

And plunges where the boldest dare not lead. 

His gaudy plumage, trembling to the breeze. 

His Brits inspire, and his legions seize ! 

Down the broad level, with a dext'rous sweep, 

He pours *his legions in a solid lieap. 

His numerous infantry his centre forms; ^ 

Here press his horse, there his artillery storms : 

All solid and combined^ they move along, 

Braced by that confidence that nerves .the strong. 

Fierce rolls his cannonade adown the vale; 

His rifles, from the hills, their leaden hail; 

The shores are shaken by the iron load ; 

The fog now thickens where the cannons roar'd : — 

Here pressed the Hessians, by De Heister led; 

.4nd there the horse, KnyphauseiV at their head. 

Here filed the infantry in sweeping form. 

With Howe and Clinton, who conduct the storm. 

But as the waves that toss their angry spray, 

Upon the pebbles that may line the bay, 

Spend all their fury and return again, 

To i.he deep bosom of the heaving main ; 

So swept the war, with all that dire display, 

That marks an army form'd and bent to slay ; 

It meets impediments that break its force. 

And hurl it, shiver 'd, from its promised course. 

The furious onslaught by our Chief was met — 

His bulwarks strengthen'd and his cannons set; 

His men in spirits from the foes they slew; 

Their cannons blazino; to the balls that flew. 



32 



THE COLONIAD 



The creek's steep bank upon our Chieftain's side, 

Form'd a grave check to Howe's unyielding pride : 

If from the other side his cannons roar, 

The balls would sink, not rise above the shore: 

In the insensate earth their iron load, 

Ball upon ball, all-harmless would be pour'd ; 

While the Americans, with- better aim, 

Would sweep them off, as chaff before the flame. 

All these impediments now rose to view; 

Lord Howe observ'd them, and his force withdrew 

The British general hence our chief applauds, 

Views his brave actions, and due meed awards ; 

Deems 4h''^t the Power above must have controU'd, 

The storm he rais'd, and o'er the chieftain roU'd. 

Howe now withdraws along the Hudson's shore, 

And enters quietly his camp once more ; 

Here free to meditate upon the past, 

He forms new plans, more intricate and vast. 

With all due deference to our Chieftain's skill, 

He deem'd his weakness would his ardor chill ! 

If graver tactics to the field were brought — 

His mind untutor'd and unschool'd his thought — 

He could outstep with ease his hateful foe. 

And quench out freedom in a rebel's gore! 

But vain the surmise — vain his darken'd plans; 

Hope was in Washington — and hope expands I 

The buoyant essence of a copious mind, 

Sustain'd him through each day that frown'd unkind 

The sacred impluse of a hallow'd zeal, 

Irapress'd his soldiers with what freemen feel; 

Lit up their souls with living scorn of wrong: 

When they were weak, he then appear'd more strong. 

Meantime the chieftain cast his mind about, 

For other quarters, that convey'd less doubt : 

His foes now thick'ning, as increased in force, 

Made him desirous of some new resource: 



THE COLONIAD. 

Forth on White Plains he marshall'd half his troop, 

The rest at Harlem in a solid group : 

These Inst were garrison'd in safety there, 

To train their valor for an active war. 

Now on the Plains was Freedom's Chieftain seen, 

His manly features cheerful but serene : 

No common glow now animates his breast, 

His trust in Heaven puts his doubts at rest. 

His men encouraged by his cheerful mien. 

Despatch their duties on the tented-green. 

Meantime the Chieftain, with a martial tread, 

Amidst his soldiers roves and softens dread; 

His nervous syllables with boldness flow. 

His features kindle with a patriot's glow; 

Their souls, ignited at the mental flame. 

Seize on his virtues and aspire to fame : 

A fame that hath no tinsil as its meed, 

But springs immortal from the wounds that bleed. 

The poet lives to sound the hero's name ; 

The hero to assert what rio^ht should claim. 



34 THE COLONIAD, 



CANTO IV. 

I |LoRD HoAVE now isuing from the Hudson's bank, 

Drew up his army at our Chieftain's flank: 

The crafty Briton here, with caution, place 

His troops in order on the barren waste : 

Lord Percy, meanwhile, with a veteran-crew, 

Close in the steps of General Howe pursue. 

All these are marshall'd to the crowded Plains,* 

Soon to be drench'd by the ensanguined rains : 

Between their camps a little hill presents, 

An equal barrier to the hostile tents; 

Upon this hill McDougall took his stand, 

With sixteen hundred men from Maryland : 

On swept the British, infantry and horse, 

Increased in number by Lord Percy's force. 

Now on the Plains — Lord Howe upon his steed, 

With plumage waving, takes the gallant lead : 

Along the valley, or the open space, 

His horsemen canter with a martial grace ; 

His bold artillery (in the centre thrown,) 

With weighty cannon, now came rolling on : 

His dazzling infantry in squares are form'd, 

Their faces beaming with the glow that warm'd : 

His Riflesf saunter with their guns in hand. 

Along the paths that line the table-land. 

Here Knyphausen, Clinton and DeHeister, urge 

These various bodies to the hillock's verge : 

* In Connecticut 

t A body of Riflemen. 



THE COLONIAD. 35 

Lord Howe now bids them charge upon the foe, 

Knyphausen's troopers prance along before: 

These break' the barrier that the hill presents, 

And, from the summit, view the hostile tents. 

Here Reitzimer and Smallwood took their stands, 

(Unerring rifles in their soldiers' hands,) 

And form their riflemen in hollow-iquare, 

To check the foe, whichever way they bear. 

These, with McDougall's infantry below, 

Are ready now for the decisive blow : 

On went the horse — their swords are gle a my- bright, 

The drums are beating, and the foot in sight : 

The cannon, stationed on the plain below, 

Are not advanced upon the hillock's brow; 

But here their riflemen are left behind, 

To pick the foe the scouring horse may find ; 

And, as these last through thickets force their way. 

The leaden messengers confront their prey ; 

The singing lead now through the thickets blaze, 

The foremost horsemen tumble from their bays. 

Here Smallwood's riflemen commenc'd the fray, 

And Reitzimer's with equal havoc play. 

The horse now check'd upon the crowded hill, 

Fall back upon their reur that press'd on still: 

These solid soldiers through the thickets sweep, 

Where wives for husbands will have cause to weep. 

The ready rifle and unerring hand, 

Are on the hill, at Reitzimer's command : 

The Brits are moving in a solid square ; 

The horse are prancing with a savage air! 

The muskets form a wood of glist'ning steel ; 

The plumage dancing to the bounding heel. 

These, sway'd by fury and resolved to slay, 

Bend through the thickets their revengeful way: 

Again the rifles, ready cock'd and primed, 

Send forth their messengers, by valor timed: 



36 THE COLONIAP. 

Full in the centre of the solid square, 

They place their balls, that whistle through the air: 

Down rolled the foremost, sprawl'd upon the ground, 

The bullets pierce them with a fatal wound. 

Here press the infantry, the horsemen there, 

While whistling bullets through the bushes tear; 

The war grows fearful (now the crowd is vast ), 

The hillock trembling to the cannon's blast. 

From either level now the warriors sweep; 

This the Brits, that the Americans keep : 

The hill now thickens with contending foes. 

Where, foot to-foot, each dauntless tbeinan wars. 

Lord Howe, upon his charger, bounds along, 

With eyes of fury on the rebel-throng ! 

Meantime George Washington, on Coelim's back, 

(That elder Coelim of a nervous make) ; 

Came bounding o'er the hill with martial grace. 

And valor's joyous sunshine in his face: 

Borne with the Chieftain was his bi'ave compeers ; 

The bold McDougall and his volunteers : 

They press each other to the nether plain, 

Where, on each side, four hundred men are slain ! 

Here our great Chieftain search'd the field of fight; 

First to the left his eye, then to the right : 

Search'd it for Howe (that foe who kept alive 

The swarming legions from the Hessian hive;) 

Search'd it, perchance, with patriotic eye. 

To challenge to the field his chivalry : 

But hid that hero in his body- guard, 

Who, like a forest, tower'd above their lord ! 

Now, from the hill, the bold McDougall pours 

His brave militia where the cannon roars. 

The combat lingers with the foot and horse; 

The whizzing bullets now obstruct their course. 

Meantime, the roar of cannon o'er the plain, 

Throws the militia on the hill agajn ; 



THE COLONIAD, .J/ 

Night coining on, the combatants retire, 

Each army to their camp and genial fire. 

Last, lingering on the ground, Columbia's Chief 

Pours forth his full heart, big with chrisUan grief. 

Methiuks, in this wise, to the Power above, 

The Chief dissolves to tears his patriot-love: 

'' Ah, potent Britain ! why your rage oppose, ; 

And send your legions on Columbia's shores? ! 

Why i' unnatural strife this day engage ; ' 

To spend on kindred au unnatural rage ? 

Her wrongs have taught her to assert the rights, 

For which her army with her tyrant fights ! 

If justice were uoc on Columbia's side, 

I would not o'er her array now preside ! 

I would disdain to do your sovereif^ni wrong. 

If weak her cause and his in justice strong ! 

But Justice, on Columbia's side, proclaims 

The virtue of that cause that now inflames ! 

Each champion that Columbia sends a-field. 

Is doubly arm'd with Justice's seven-fold shield ! 

Then to your ships, ye children of the waves ! 

Why anchor here and dig your bloody graves .-' 

Then to your ships — and let tliat justice sway, 

That builds up right when wrong is swept away ! 

Go tell your sovereign, on this free-born shore, 

Ii\ vain his armies fight, his cannons roar ! 

Its very air inspires a patriot-glow. 

On which in vain his simoon-breath may blow! 

A spirit that may here prevail alone, 

Against the edicts of a tyrant's throne: 

A spirit that pervades its mountain-tops, 

Breathes on its streams, and in Columbia stops! 

Here it is caught — if caught it is at last — 

To fire Europia and retrieve the Past! 

'Tis grief to me; ye veterans that I lead! 

A tyrant's liand makes bare the wouads that bleed : 



33 THE COLONIAD. 

Your country's wrongs have forced you to yon plain, 

Where death is softer than a tyrant's chain : 

The gory bed, where you may end your breath, 

Will spring the laurel that shall form your wreath. 

I see, my countrymen ! the coming storm : 

The arm that brews it is in human form. 

I see the blood that in its track must flow ; — 

Let prudence baffle the decisive blow: 

I see the tyrant on his island-throne. 

His proud heart by its native envy torn — 

I see it, and invoke the Power on high, 

To clothe me with its sacred panoply. 

With this I go forth to the tented-field — 

My trust in Heaven, and Justice for my shield ! 

I would forego the blood that may be spilt: 

I war not for a fame that springs from guilt ! 

My country calls, and I that call obey. 

Through that impulse that yields where right should sway. 

I'm sanguine of success — but heed ray voice — 

And liberty will rise, and you rejoice ! " 

Thus mused our Chieftain, as he slowly bent 
His contemplative foetsteps to his tent; 
There night infolds him in its sable arms, 
And sleep infuses its prevailing charms: 
Soft on his eyes the wooing spell descends. 
And soothes his senses as his day-dream ends. 
He sees, in dreams, his countrymen aspire. 
To deeds of chivalry the world admire : 
Not bloody instruments that tyrants use, 
To build up power they recreantly abuse ; 
But unstained champions in the cause of right ^ 
Who not in blood but liberty delight. 
His dream yet linger'd, and he saw arise 
Those pleasant prospects that delight our eyes : 
Fair rivers winding to commercial marts, 
And cities rising and adorned with arts: 



THE COLONIAD. 39 

Steamboats proceeding to the promised shore, 

And railroads piercing where he pierced the foe : 

His dear Virginia (not a forward dame, 

But graceful matron with a spotless name,) 

Slowly rising, with a towering crest. 

Her chivalry emblazon'd on her breast! 

His country's arms (her States) expanding wide, 

To grasp the Atlantic's and Pacific's tide: 

Huge ships of steam to bear across the main, 

Vast bales of cotton from its native plain ; 

Which, in its progress, with its downy arms 

Would sooth war's vissage, hush its fierce alarms : 

Saw, in his dream, the distant States arise, 

Where California like an Ophir lies ; 

And rolls its currents over glittering sands. 

To rouse those crusades to its far-ofi" lands. 

Saw in his dream, through avenues of years, 

(The vision shook him, and it moved to tears) — 

Saw in his dream — Ambition's waves invest 

The tower of Freedom, where her hopes could rest : 

Her first sure refuge — and her last and best! 

The dream passed from him — and the Chief awoke, 

Long ere the rosy dawn from Ocean broke. 

And op'd the lattice of the bright boudoir, 

Whence rolls Appollo through the azure air. 



40 



THE COLOMAD. 



C A N TO V . 

Up rose the Chief and marshall'd all Lis liost, 
Newcastle Hill presents the cliosen post : 
This, by the dawn, he reached — and here he threw 
His bravest soldiers on the hill in view. 
Those avenues that to its summit led, 
Were, though artillery, bar'd by cannonade. 
Thus stationed, on his formidable ground. 
The Chief had leisure there to gaze around. 
The sun had brushed away the fog« of morn, 
And light came dancing o'er the grassy lawn ; 
The joyous birds began their morning song, 
A concert cheering to the old and young : 
The hills enliven'd with their merry notes, 
As o'er the vale the feath'ry herd now sport.'!. 
Here, pensive and sedate, the hero stood, 
His mind anon oppress'd, anon had soared; 
Sad thoughts now sunk him to the depths of grief, 
And now a buoyancy elates the Chief : 
When cannon, in the distance, loudly roar. 
Announced the British from the Hudson's shore. 
On sweep their columns, iu combin'd array. 
Along the road, on which they bend their way : 
The woods re-echo to their solid tread ; 
And terror kindles as their banners spread. 
High beat the bosom of their warlike lord, 
As, prancing on his steed, his columns pour'd. 
Newcastle Heights now seize his raptuous gaze, 
As on the sunlit plains bis armies blaze: 



THE COLONIAD. 41 

The valiant Washington he spied afar, 

Intrenched secure and buoy'd above despair. 

Here lay the plain which Howe at large invades, 

And there the Heights his foeman barricades : 

Hero the defendant wisely sought his ground, 

Secure and fortified behind the mound : 

The plaintiff foUow'd and observ'd its strength, 

Which he examines — and withdraws at length. 

In Heaven's high chanc'ry their complaints are heard : 

Whose cause is just, is by its smiles preferred ! 

Freedom's great Chieftain, by its wisdom fill'd, 

Now spares that blood which folly would have spill d : 

His vantaore-p-round has foil d his daring foe. 

And turn'd him back upon the Hudson's shore. 

Forts Washington and Lee are now his prey, 

And, sway'd by fury, thither bends his way: 

Here, meditating in his angry mood, 

Howe's vengeance settles where those forts intrude. 

(But here great Washwgton's capacious niiad, 

Anticipates the fate to them assign' d.) 

Fort Washington— the victim first assail'd — 

Made strong resistance ere the foe prevail'd. 

But vain is valor, where superior skill 

And numbers strengthen the desire to kill ! 

Howe's navy rode upon the Hudson's breast, 

And put the guns within the fort to rest : 

Its shattered bulwarks trembled to the roar 

Of cannons, from the navy and the shore ! 

The brave Magaw, who deem'd resistance vain, 

Gave up the fortress with two thousand men : 

This Freedom's Chieftain learn'd with bitter grief, 

Unable to afford Magaw relief. 

Now o'er the Hudson swept the English fleet, 

Where General G-reene and its commander meet. 

Fort Lee is now the victim of their rage ; 

Its brave defenders with the foe engage : 



42 



THE COLONIAD. 



Fierce is the contest, but it yields at last, 
To a strong pressure and incessant blast ! 
Night draws its sable curtains over the scene, 
And aids the bold retreat of General Greene; 
Thence, with his men, retiring - in the dark, 
Led them to Washington* — then in Newark. 
The Chieftian in his tent now pensive sat, 
Oppressd in spirits at his gloomy state. 
His forts demolish'd on the Hudson's shore; 
His soldiers vanquish'd by the prowling foe : 
His stores of ammunition swept away ; 
Now lost to him, in hostile vessels lay : 
But most his soldiers lost, the Chief deplores, 
Amidst the number of the public woes : 
But this is momentary — ho respires, 
And breathes new energy, as valor fires. 
Howe now grown insolent from his success. 

Sought only how he might the Chief oppress 

That Chieftain who had shed no needless blood, 

But warr'd directly for the public good : 

Hence, pressing on each weakly-guarded post, 

He swept the seaboard or Atlantic coast. 

Those lowering clouds, that darken'd Freedom's sky. 

But made more vigilant the Chieftain's eye: 

That eye that watch'd the progress of the storm. 

Which now assum'd its most terrific form: 

That storm which rose in the resisting North, 

And spent its fury in the ardent South. 

But now his constancy and faith display'd. 

Those noble instincts which his soul obey'd : 

His dauntless spirit bafiied Fortune's frowns, 

By moral guards that innate virtue owns. 

On Jersey's small but animated State, 

The British Chieftian look'd with eyes elate ; 

* The Cliieftain of llie American Army. 



THE COLONIAD. 43 

(Where fruits, delicious, from its genial soil, 

Remuaerate the skilful hand of toil — 

The peach and apple, of unecpall d growth,* 

From thence find markets in the distant South.) 

Its quiet Governor had been forewarn'd, 

Of all those ills its harmless people mouru'd: 

The watchful eye of Washington foresaw. 

The long-suspended and descending blow : 

A sleepless vigilance and wit combined. 

Had formed a junction in the hero's mind, 

By wliich lie foiled, where he in person led, 

The best tactition that the English had. 

His English foe had held New-Jersey bound, 

With troops that ravag'd where their champion frown'd; 

Its arms too feeble to expel the foe — 

Its ruler witaess'd all his people's woe ; 

But Washington, now mindful of their fate, 

Resolv'd to foil him and release the State : 

So quiting Newark by the favoring night, 

O'er Delaware's broad breast he fixed his flight : 

A " valorous cunning," that the Chief foresaw. 

Was necessary to prolong the war: 

For Howe had spread his military net, 
With skilfulness of hand and heart elate ; 
But Vigilance and Prudence superven'd. 

And Freedom's Chieftain with their aid was screen'd. 
Now on the banks of Delaware secure, 

The Chief encamp'd, and there defi'd his foe: 

A mist arising from the favorintj flood, 

Assists the flight that spares his army's blood : 

Here roU'd the flood, there press'd the hostile foe, 

In proud array, upon the Jersey shore : 

His troops parade, his banners flaunt in pride, 

As into Newark, from its skirts, they glide. 

*A goodly quantity finds its way to Richmond ;— -either the soil of New 
Jersy or the skill of its horticulturists makes a difference between the fruits 
raised heie and there. 



44 



THE COLONIAD. 



Tlie Sun had swept the friendly mist away, 

As o'er the sky his chariot spreads the da}'- : 

Thence, from the Jersey side, Howe gazed with ' grief, 

Across the DeLaware, where stood the Chief. 

The Chief returned the glance with bounding heart, 

Innately flatter'd with this stroke of art. 

Meantime, the Chieftain had a courier sent 

To Hudson's shore, where Lee had fixed his tent. 

Here he was station' d to impede the foe, 

Whose prowling horse might scour its eastern shore; 

Soon as the courier from his courser lit, 

The prudent Lee divin'd his general's wit. 

The courier hasten'd to tlie champion's tent, 

And yields the letter that his general sent : 

Its seal is broken and its contents read. 

With some anticipations big with dread. 

His charger, at his tent, awaits his lord. 

And, to be gone, needs but his master's word : 

Now through his ranks, upon his steed, he bep.rs, 

And puts in motion all his grenadiers: 

The ready veterans to their general's call. 

Form on the shore an animated wall. 

A sacred fire pervades the hero's camp : 

A patriotic ardor, naught can damp ! 

All fly to arms — in order march the horse : 

The artillery, centred, bend upon their course,— 

O'er hill and dale, along the pleasing greens,. 

By rippling rills and then through woody screens : 

Sweet thoughts intrude upon the general's mind, 

Perchance a wife, or fair one, left behind : 

Sweet thoughts that wake the wish that strife might cease, 

Hush'd gently by the softening voice of Peace ! 

Where all beneath their pleasure-bearing "vine," 

And private "fig-tree," safely might recline. 

Now verging on the river Delaware, 

The hero spied his Chieftian's camp from far: 



THE COLONIAD. 45 

He fires his signal, then the trumpet sounds, 

As forth he presses on the tented-grounds : 

The outposts reach'd, the counter-sign is made, 

And into camp Lee pours his bold brigade. 

Meantime had Heath and Schuyler in the North, 

Been ordered to advance into the South : 

This prudent measure sway'd the Chieftain's mind. 

Now press'd by foes, with thrice his force combin'd. 

These veterans, with intrepid Gates, had held 

The Northern passes--aud Burgoyne expell'd : 

These kept Cornwallis and Burgoyne apart, 

And check'd Lord Percy in the battles fought. 

But now their Chief, desirous of their aid, 

Demands their presence---finds his will obey'd. 

Swift flew the heroes to their Chieftain's call, 

Their foes retire, or else prepare to fall: 

Down to New Brunswick they by valor press, 

And fire their courage from their Chief's distress. 

Now by the Raritau * his tents are spread, 

Where Howe pursues him with some show of dread : 

Imbolden'd by that oft-delusive spell. 

That most in barren bosoms rise and dwell : 

The evil-genius of a narrow mind, 

That clothes with vanity each thought unkind : 

That deems a Solon (who, in modest guise. 

May hive that wisdom that is truly wise,) 

A thing of nought — a puppet in a show. 

Magicians quicken and at will lay low. 

These veterans from their Northern posts withdrawn, 

Cornwallis, with his troops, came thundering on : 

Full in Newark (Lord Howe withdrawn from thence,) 

Cornwallis enters, and his schemes commence. 

The prudent Chieftain of Columbia's host, 

Now yielded Brunswick for a safer post: 

*A river in New-Jersey. 



46 



THE COLONIAD. 



On Princeton now the Chieftain's eye was set, 
Press'd by those evils that mischance beget. 
Those adverse clouds, that lower upon the best, 
Surcharg'd with ills no genius can arrest, 
Now thick and dark, with their impending storm. 
Disgorge their terrors in a direful form. 
With naught but valor to sustain the war, 
Whole regiments now from his camp withdraw : 
These all by poverty were rudely press'd ; 
Their grievances, long borne, were unredress'd. 
The nipping frost of winter chill'd that blood, 
They would have ventured for the public good : 
The fretful Boreas, with his icy hand, 
No unclad hero can, unscath'd, withstand; 
And though these soldiers were a hardy race, 
Their ardour shiver'd at his cold embrace. 
Their Chieftian long, by his example, fed 
The flame that in their bosoms now lay dead. 
The Chieftain saw them from his camp retire, 
And task d Lis eloquence once more to fire. 
Methinks, in this wise, flowed the silver-tide. 
Like rills that o'er unconscious pebbles glide : 
" Why, O my countrymen ! relinquish all 
That can immortalize the brave that fall? 
Will ye now leave me, in a wasted state, 
To sink, united to my country's fate? 
Do ye not know I am to her allied, 
By every impulse that can spring from pride? 
Not that mere whiff that takes the tinsil meed ; 
But soul-engender'd, not ingrafted creed! 
Is servile ease, beneath a tyrant's frown, 
More worthy your regard than glory's crown? 
Shall sundry hardships, that from war must spring. 
Their gloomy shadows o'er the future fling? 
The clouds, to-day, that on my armies rest, 
Will shake the coward's not the hero's breast I 



THE COLONIAD. 47 

Then, my soldiers ! to your banners fly ! 

Than ignominious ease, prefer to die ! 

Let future times your sacred requiems sing, 

And, from your blood, a free republic spring; 

Unfetter'd by the heartless tyrant's frown. 

Whose acts exceed the license of his crown ! 

Will ye be flatter'd by inglorious ease, 

Amidst the war-songs that pervade the breeze ; 

When from the hills the trumpet calls to arms, 

And every plain with armed foemen swarms ? 

Will not your wives' and tender children's tenrs. 

Arouse your valor, or excite your fears ? 

How can you faco those dear and cherish'd friends. 

Until this war of independence ends ? — 

As end it will (0 let your chief relate ! ) 

In blood-bought freedom for each sovereign State; 

Or, quench'd in blood, each noble breast no more. 

That beat for freedom on Columbia's shore ! 
Succeed or not — my life I now devote — 

Resolv'd to sink, or with her fortunes float ! 

If I succeed, and bat.ish from your shore. 

Each hostile vessel that has hived a foe, 

Be this my praise — my best and sweetest meed — 

'That foe is vanquish'd and my country freed!' 

But if I fail — and England spreads again 

Those terrors that in servile bosoms reign — 

I shall not live, my countrymen ! to see 

The swan-like death of vanquish'd Liberty, 

My blood shall flow — my manhood's pow'rs be spent — 

Ei-e less than freedom shall extort assent ! 

And, on the hills, my humble dust be spread. 

Where freemen fought by love of freedom led. 

I then no more shall view the tyrant's glance, 

Rapp'd in death's still and all-prevailing trance ! 



48 THE COLONIAD. 

I will be free — I shall not live to hear 
The taunt of knaves, who ape a tyrant's sneer : 
' Is this the land yon rebel would have freed ? 
Behold your fate, ye rebles that succeed ! 
In vain he battled to enforce a right — 
Success but sanctions all extremes of might ! 
This lost — e'en virtue is condeuiu'd as crime, 
And seard with infamy throughout all time ! ' " 
Thus spake the Chief to that retiring crew, 
Who, at this crisis, from his camp withdrew : 
With dignity of speech, and jesture kind, 
He eked the essence of his mighty mind: 
Now on their ears his piercing accents ring. 
Dive to the heart and touch the mystic spring- ; 
Shed on their souls the glow that freemen feel, 
And newly kindle their expiring zeal ! 
Some to their arms with animation fly. 
Rejoin his standard, and resolve to die; 
And some, divided in their minds, depart 
With tears distill' d from an o'er-labored heart. 
Now on to Trenton forth his army strode. 
And battled with the foe upon the road : 
Gates, Schuyler, Heath, and Sullivan were there, 
Whose bold divisions in these battles share. 
Brave deeds the valiant Sullivan performed ! 
He led the horse where General Schuyler storm'd , 
Down a defile that on to Trenton led, 
(Where much at lengfh the Chieftain's army spread,) 
Knyphausen's horse with fury charg'd his rear. 
Which Sullivan espy'd, and hence drew near. 
Now, from their holsters, these detach their arms, 
While Sullivan's brave word each trooper warms. 
One word was given — and their bullets flew : 
Knyphausen's horse retreat, and these persuo: 



THE COLONIAD. 49 

Now on an open plain — Knypiiausen's charge, 

While Sullivan's advance (their swords at large); 

Their pistols to their holsters now restor'd, 

With dexterous sleight they wield the massive sword. 

Now from his horse a trooper " bites the dust,-' 

Sprawl'd by his foeman with a timely thrust. 

Knyphausen views it with an eye serene; 

Swords clash on swords, and sparkle o er the green : 

Ail-furiously they press, by rage impell'd : 

Horse joins with horse, and sword on sword is held. 

Some now disabled by the labor past; 

Their strength diminish'd, from their steeds are cast. 

These ridden over in the general whirl, 

Lay undistinguished from the common churl. 

KNYrHAusENs troopcrs in the battle bled, 

Through skull and cap the heavy sabre sped; 

Down from his horse a wounded warrior falls. 

And o'er the dead, upon the field, he crawls; 

Here, like these last, he sinks beneath his fate. 

And yields his soul to seek its future state. 

Knyphausen, worsted in the gen'ral fight, _ 

Now wheels, in order to secure his flight; 

And, putting spurs to his Albion steed, 

Calls to his troops to follow in his lead. 

Now o'er the field Knyphausens troopers fly. 

As Howe's artillery, in advance, draw nigh ; 

These pour on Sullivan an iron load. 

And force him from the field into the road : 

Now dashing on, he quickly gain'd the rear, 

Where Schuyler press'd with gallant Reitzimer. 

One, with his cannon, hurls defiance back, 

Upon the foes that follow in his track; 

And one, with rifles, to annoy the horse 

That 'gain may venture to impede their course. 

On press'd the soldiers, with stout hearts and true, 

Far in advance of the redoubted Howe : 
4 



50 THE COLONIAD. 

Full on the shore of Delaware they crowd, 

Amidst the roll of drums and trumpets lotid ; 

Nine miles above the town of Trenton pause, 

And, at McKonkey's ferry, hear across: 

Schuyler's bold artillery lined the shore, 

To keep in check the now advancing foe : 

Meantime, had Sullivan his troopers led, 

To scour the outposts, and observance made: 

(Here Greene, Cadwallader, and Smallwood, share 

In all the labors of Colonial war ; 

Each, at their stations, with distinguish'd pride. 

Their country's love and gratitude divide : 

Nought but the turf now wraps tbeir mortal clay, 

No marble marks, or shows us where they lay!) 

Now all the boats along the river's shore, 

For miles are gathered, to transport them o'er. 

A two-fold purpose had the Chief in view, 

When from the shore the pliant boats he drew : 

First o'er the stream, these boats his armies bore ; 

And next, they check the progress of the foe. 

Now, in these barges all his footmen press, 

Famed for their valor, and for skill no less : 

These o'er the Delaware now deign to cross; 

And next, bold Sullivan presents liis horse :* 

These o'er the ferry good McKonkev bears — 

(A friend to Liberty and all her wars. 

He, in the land where mighty Wallace bled, 

Left his fond parents and paternal shed ! ) 

Next, all his stores are in the barges placed : 

A bridge of boats, that either shore embraced. 

Next, in large barges are the cannons borne ; 

Their oaken bottoms to the iron groan : 

The restive horses, from the gigs at large, 

Are borne across upon a separate barge. 

*I oieaii a troop of liorsc.iieii- 



THE COLONIAD. 51 

And last the skirmishers along the shore, 

Descry the distant but advancing foe ; 

And, with that prudence that denote the brave, 

Risk not the blood that valor bids them save : 

Hence to the river they with speed descend, 

And, in tlieir barges, o'er its bosom bend. 

These form the rear of one embodied square, 

That press the breast of buoyant Delaware. 

Now on the shore the Chieftain's forces land, 

And are disciplin'd under his command : 

Here, on a rising ground, their tents are spread, , 

Upon a creek that to the river led : 

Hero he arranges all his camp-defence, 

And fires his soldiers with his eloquence: 

Sweeps from their minds the shadows of all fear, 

And pours his soul into his army's ear. 
Now slowly bending through the open glade, 
Howe's gaudy soldiers greet the sylvan shade; 
Long was the march o'er Jersey's rugged breast. 
Now, faint and spent, within the glade they rest : 
Its green invited to a sweet repose, 
Beneath the trees that o'er their heads arose : 
Down, sloping to the shore, the glade was spread, 
Where weary veterans taste a grassy-bed: 
Here, sparkling in the sun, their armor shines, 
Like gems that glisten in Potosi's mines : 
Prone on the grass, the weary veterans lay; — 
There flows the river winding to the Bay; * 
While o'er its bosom, on the fartlier side, 
The matchless Washington encamp d in pride. 
The gaudy Chieftain of the English host, 
Now, with his telescope, surveys the coast : 
Full o'er the deeply-sweeping Delaware, 
The mystic glass upon his foemen bear: 

♦ Tlip Delaware Bnv. 



52 THE COLONIAD. 

Their tents, their equipage, the guns are seen, 
Dispos'd in order on the virgin green. 
Now, far apart from all his troops, retire 
The English Chieftain and a trusty squire, 
With pensive steps amidst the soothing grove, 
The Albion hero and his squire rove: 
Their secret caucus here its session held, 
Where moaning pines a pleasing dream instill d. 
The museful hero heie, with lofty soul, 
Inhales these joys as the scenes unroll: 
Drinks in the pleasures of the pleasing scene — 
The moaning pines; the soft, inviting green. 
Far down the dale his eagle-eye pursued, 
The touching beauty of the scenes he viewed : 
Wishd here for peace — but here his native pride 
Arose, and all his sympathies divide. 
• Tia but a moment — and his mind is free — 
Again he storms, the foe of Liberty ! 
Again invested with the fiery zeal. 
That nerved his valor and uusheath'd his steel. 
He here debates; and, in his mind, up-turns 
His future progress and its vast concerns: 
Bare to his minion all his schemes were laid, 
As, in debate, they amble through the glade. 
Forth to his troops with hasty steps he strode, 
And, on to Trenton, took the river road. 
His drnms now beat — the bugle's notes resound ; 
His cannons roar, and shake the solid ground. 
Now o'er the stream he casts a vengeful glare ; 
A glance of pride, whose meed is its despair. 
Now spreads the setting sun his golden beams, 
Adown the valley and athwart the streams; 
The mead is silent where the oxen graze. 
And dewy eve its cooling breezes raise : 
Far in the distance is the homestead seen, 
Where happiness is not as it hath been ; 



THE COLOMAD. 53 

When 'round its hearth-stone sprang those tender joys, 

That lure us home when all the world annoys ! 

Now prowling soldiers of a hostile-band, 

Mar all on which they lay their harpy-hand, 

And spread a ruin on their fiendish path, 

That is not licensed in the Code of Wrath : 

But thus is man : — unguided, on his way, 

By all those instincts that in reason sway; 

Thus is he seen to side with what is wrong, 

Though right were urged with all the force of song. 

Low-bowing to the crowd! meek Virtue's friend 

Retires from the scene which must offend : 

He cannot smile, — to gain the vaiu applause 

Of what his conscience spurns, his senses awes: 

He chooses, meekly, the forsaken-way, 

Where sober thought and richer fancies play. 

Unbending to the idols of the crowd. 

His gaze is lofty as his hopes are proud! 

With Truth — his guard agninst each base desire ; 

She sanctions all to which he dare aspire! 

Thus, musing in his tent with soul serene, 

Thought Freedom's Chief, while gazing on this scene. 

He saw Lord Home with all his troops depart, 

His country's woes pressd heavy on his heart: 

He saw him wind along the river's side, 

His troops disposed with military pride : 

His banners gaily flaunted on the breeze, 

And uniforms thence glisten'd 'midst the trees ! 

He saw him— and resolved to strike a blow. 

That 'chance might lay the proud invader low; 

He saw him — and, as thus his accents ran, 

Their sacred murmur dignified the man: 

" Learn, then, Britons! that my country hence, 

Knows no ' reiiriug-ebb ' in her defence: 



54 THE COLONIAD. 

Her fate was set upon a fatal ' cast,' 

The ' hazard of the die' is in the Past ; 

Her Future, now, is brighter to my view, 

Than when she from your Monarchy withdrew." 

Thus thoughts, like these, might through his mind have run, 

As on Lord Howe he gazed — and on the sun ; 

But clearer, broader, deeper was their flow, 

Than any that these letter'd pages show. 



THB COLOMAD. OD 



CANTO VI. 

Now, as Le in ^his tent thus raeeklj mused, 
His mind inspired by Castalian dews; 
His raptured thought above his clny arose, 
To paint his own in all his country's foes : 
" Oh, base ingrates! unworthy Freedom's boon. 
Thus to forsake me in fair Freedom's noon. 
Your piercing hardships should have press'd you on, 
To gain the cause in which they had been borne : 
How can you dare assume the name of ' free, ' 
When Truth alone can rank in that degree ? 
She .' makes the freeman — all besides are slaves :' 
Who steals her badge, are only tyrants' knaves ! 
Who strikes my countr}^, strikes her champion here ; 
Her cause is mine, her honor just as dear! 
Henceforth, in me, prepare to find a foe, 
If on my country you entail a woe ! 
This is my purpose — let my compeers hear! 
And ye, my soldiers ! whom I hold as dear. " . 
# * * # # 

Night's friendly shadows o'er the landscape fell, 
The forest murmurs as the zephyrs swell; 
The river, rush'ng to its parent-bay, 
Below the camp, pursues its watery way : 
Nighfs drowsy opiates now impugn the brain, 
And all its day-dreams by their spell lie slain ; 
The sentinels now range around the camp; 
And blazing fires dispel the dewy-damp. 
The arms, in rows, around the tents are spread; 
The guns on rests, the sword hang overhead : 



56 THE COLONIAD. 

The soldiers, on the ground, in sleep repose, 

Unconscious of their past or present woes : 

In snuger tents, apart from all the rest, 

The Chieftain's Aids becalm a troubled breast; 

While, more at large, within ^n ample tent, 

The Chief reposes, by his labors spent : 

Its curtains closed, above his sacred head. 

Shuts out the damp that floats around his bed : 

Drawn round this tent, in other tents, there lie 

His body-guard, who keep a watchful eye : 

Some nervous fellows, six-foot-two or so, 

Who take the plume, when rang'd for use or show ! 

Here lay the Chieftain, press'd by gentle sleep, 

Erewhile his thoughts before his Maker sweep : 

Slow-eking from his soul his prayer ascends. 

Its buoyant essence bears to Heaven his friends : 

His soul before the Immortal Chieftain there, 

Unveils its purpose and dissolves in prayer : 

Celestial radiance darts athwart his mind. 

The gloom is shiver'd that prevails to blind : 

A sacred unction, soothing and intense, 

iNow springs within his soul, and wraps each sense. 

Methinks, in this wise, to the Throne of Grace, 

The hero's prayer ran, as he veil'd his face : 

" all-creating and divine Unknown, 

I bow my trembling spirit at thy throne ! 

First, on my private sins — their fatal spell — 

My soul, now chasten'd, with remorse would dwell: 

In its deep caverns, hidden from all eyes, 

There lurks a sleepless foe, in Virtue's guise : 

On its pure essence he ail-foully blows, 

And seals, in slumber, all its pra verful throes: 

This I would have Thee, through Messiah's name, 

Sweep from its covet, and expel the shame; 

Shed Thy glad unction, where the heart is sore, 

Aud close the wounds the fiendish spirit tore. 



THE COLONIAD. 57 

Next, o'er ray friends I lift imploring hands, 
(My soul unveil'd, that in Thy presence stands): 
My friends — my countrymen — my soldiers here, 
For whom, at times, I shed a hero's tear; — 
My prayer for them transcends no legal claim, 
As one poor brother chides another's shame; 
But rises purely from a soul seiene, 
Where no fell traitor grins beneath its screen. 
Their creeds are sacred — these to Thee belong : 
If honest in them, they cannot be wrong; — 
But all the heart can dare to wish or pray, 
I breathe to Thee, as in my tent I lay. 
No hand can prosper without Thy accord : 
No work complete, without Thy sanction, Lord. 
Throw o'er my arms Thy Providential Veil- 
Be this my army's common '■'■court of mail!'^ 
And where I fight, O may my foes retire ! 
Press'd by that storm that Justice shall inspire. 
Big is the war in which I now engage — 
May promis'd glory present pangs assuage ! 
It grieves my heart, to see my soldiers faint 
Beneath those burthens that would shake a saint: 
Brave men and true, my bnttles all declare 
But valor cowers to the frosty air ! 
Their limbs have shiver'd in the boreal blast, 
Where Bunker's Hill its icy shadows cast; 
There, through the snow, they scal'd the barbed-height, 
With nought to nerve them but a sense of right ! 
Their naked feet upon the frozen snow, 
And tatter'd garments, now confess their woe; 
But up they clomb, amidst the threat'ning hive, 
Where shell and ball above, around them drive; 
From their strong perch they drove the Hcssian-swarm, 
And cover'd Boston from the pending storm. 
Divine Messiah, if upon thine ear 
These humble accents shall, prevailing, bear, 



58 THE COLOMy^D. 

let thy favor with the Power Supreme, 
Yield that protection which may me beseem ! 
Yon haughty minion of the British Crown ! 
Vouchsafe, Messiah ! I may batter down: 

The Hessian-drove, that follow at his will, 

Must feed the crow upon Mount-Holly's hill : * 

Let pity shroud the clay that bleeds for aught 

But liberty of action and of thought! 

' Tweie pity, that my countrymen should hew' 

Their way to glory, through a servile crew ; 

Whose patriotism has a golden aim, * 

The love of money, not the love of fame ! 

But, divine and all-inspiring Cause, 

That gave the world its being and its laws, 

Here, in my tent, upon my bended knee, 

1 spread my heart before Thy Son and Thee ! 
If in my conduct there be aught to blame, 

It springs from weakness, not contempt of shame : 
In me what's dark, illume; what coarse, refine, 
And, on my armies, let ni} virtues shine. 
Let me, their captain, imitate the Just, 
Beneath whose panoply I fix my trust: 
Serene and placid may my brow be found; 
Amidst the balls that shake the battle-ground: 
The whizzing bullets that infest the air, 
And rudely through my regimentals, tear, f 
Bid me serenely and unmoved behold, 
While in the charge my nerves confess me bold ! 
May every action — every gesture — speak. 
In some hot contest, where my foe I seek; 
My troops observing, may they fire from me, 
And take, as heroes, each extoll'd degree. 

* Near Trenton, where a large body of Hessians were posted- 

+ I Faw ttiese nieiTHMitos of (lie past (when I was in Washington City,) like 
" bruised aruis hung up for luonunjeiits.'' 



THE COLONIAD. 

But, unknown and all-protecting Power ! 

I lay no claims beyond man's common dower ! 

Where'er the ball shall fly — the cannon roar, — 

On Coelim's bact (the elder) I will soar : 

I war for right, and shall that right maintain : 

If I shall fail — I will not bear the stain ! 

Propitious Power ! while I before thee bend, 

I ask of Thee to grant a worthy friend : * 

One, sure and true — to Liberty allied 

By all those virtues that may spring from pride!" 

The Chieftain ceas d, and folding o'er his breast, 

His sacred arms, his senses sank to rest : 

Divine Messiah! now his prayer prefers. 

Before the throne of Him who shakes the spheres ; 

The grace dispensed, now through his senses roU'd, 

His mind invigor'd, takes another mould ■" 

Celestial spirits in his dreams appear. 

And banish from his soul each idle fear ; 

The lovely vision of his tents arise, 

Upon a green, beneath propitious skies; 

He, in his vision, meantime, seems to share, 

In all the glory of a raging war : 

On Coelim's back he deems himself astride, 

While, through his foes, he hews a passage wide; 

His troops here follow, thro' the breach he makes ; 

His cannons still a, father passage rakes. 

Now seeks his horse the bloody corridour. 

They press in force, their captain bears before : 

On either side, a wall of fallen foes; 

His cannons blazing to the shrieks that rose. 

A deeper slumber on the Chieftain fell; 

The vision passed — oblivion broke the spell! 

Involv'd in slumbers of profond degree, 

The Chieftain dreamt bis countrymen were free ; 

* The Marquis de la Fayetle---! do not suppose he anticipated him. 



59 



<jO the coloniad. 

Free from the shackles of a servile bond, 

'Neath which their brave hearts had in bondage groan'd; 

But, in his dream, what bloody fields now crowd, 

What foes there combat, and what battles proud I 

O'er the fair fields where grew the pliant maize, 

A host of foes attract his dreamy gaze; 

Their navy (spread along the Atlantic's shore,) 

Had o'er the deep the barb'd-invaders bore ; 

He, on his Coelim, now attacks the host. 

With native troops — the fair Columbia's boast! 

Fierce, through their ranks, he dashes on his st^d, 

Cuts right and left, and sees his foemen bleed ; 

Prone on the ground the gaudy warriors lay. 

Their plumage dush'd with the ensanguin'd spray : 

His pitying eyes rest on his fallen foes — 

One moment thus — again his bosom glows ! 

Full in the centre, he now dashes on — 

Their bullets whisper what his heart must scorn. 

His heavy broad-sword, with a master's skill, 

Plays ever head, and at his feet, at will. 

The inspir'd Coelim shares his rider's pride. 

With mighty bounds he braves the bloody tide: 

The threat'ning steel from divers quarters press : 

It hath no terrors that the Chief confess! 

His rallying voice o'er his troops prevail: 

His artillery here, and there his horse, assail. 

Like blooming clover ' ueath the mower's scythe, 

The fallen Britons in their carnage writhe. 

Now thick and fierce the Hessian-herd uprose, 

Press'd in the space the English horse enclose: 

Behind, a wall with glittering steel emboss'd ; 

In front, a storm, where flaming balls are toss'd ; 

'J'his wiiy they look, and then on that they gaze; 

Their courage quivers as the cannons blaze; 

But urged by infantry that press behind, 

They rush all-furiouslv like startled swine: 



THE COLONIAD. 61 

These by the brave Americans are met, 

With hearts unshaken and their muskets set : 

Bright from their muzzles gleams the pointed steel; 

Here rush the Hessians — and the foremost reel. 

Some in the shoulder take the polish'd blade; 

These faint and stagger as the wound is made: 

Some in the hip, and some the breast, are bored, 

With the fixed-bayonet, or pliant sword. 

Stretch'd on the field the gory Hessians lay, 

While o'er their heads the whizzing bullets play: 

Those farther on receive the leaden-lnad, 

An<^, those that press, upon the dying trode: ♦ 

Their pent-up fury now displays its rage : 

The Chieftain sees it, and his guns engage: 

Full in their centre wings the flaming ball; 

They burst and scatter where they light or fall : 

Their flaming fragments through the Hessians tear, 

And leave a death-dealt and unseemly scar. 

Worn with the contest, here his veteran-troops 

Gave place to fresher and more active groups : 

Fair in his dream Lord Howe, emblazon'd, rose 

In vaster compass, with more numerous foes : 

Loud roll'd his drums upon the Chieftain's ear, 

They fired his courage and entranced his fear ; 

Down, through the vale, where ail this host were spread, 

The martial Chief his valiant forces led. 

Here Albion's hero,* on his bounding gray, 

Pranced with a buoyancy he joy'd to see : 

His soldiers spread out in bespangled squares: 

Well-cloth'd and fed, now tossd with saucy airs. 

His officers in lace their ranks controll d ; 

Their horses dancing to the drums that roU'd; 

The horse-hair streaming, as the zephyrs blew, 

Their brazen caps a glossy surface t^hew : 

*Lo d Howe. 



g2 THE COLONIAD. 

Full on their surface sport the solar rays, 

Their brassy guards thence glitter to the gaze: 

Their generals, uniforni'd with richest lace, 

Fill, with proud bearing, each his chosen place : 

Their brazen cannons, in a ready row, 

Prepare to deal the iron-winged blow: 

Their infantry and rifles form two wings, 

While, through the^ centre the artillery springs: 

The rolling gigs upon the level glide, 

While, breast to breast, the men on either side : 

Then, in a row, upon the right of these, 

The light-horse canter at a graceful ease ; 

While, in a row, upon the left of those, 

Another troop of horse their ranks dispose. 

These several rows, the cannon in the midst, 

Bear up the valley as the sun now sets; 

They face his beams, which from the west incline, 

And shed a lustre on each gaudy line ; 

While from the west, adown the vale, there wends 

Columbia's Chieftain and his veteran friends : 

Full on this host, (who in his dream appear,) 

The hero rallies with a lordly sneer. 

High towers his head above his Coelim's mane, 

As° nervously he graps the ihrible rein: 

Hijrhbeats his soul with all that nerves the brave, 

In%iew of victory or a hero's grave: 

His eve is leveled on the tented-hill, 

As down the vale he winds with drums that thrill; 

He sees no foe, but yet he sees their tents ; 

This speaks them near— his thoughtful mind assents. 

Slow-winding down upon the grassy-sward, 

His mind unshaken and his soul unawed ; 

His soldiers veterans, from their fight in dreams, 

Gaze in his face that with a rapture beams; 

Fir'd from thence, vhey feel the imparted glow 



THE COLONIAD. 63 

That springs to their minds and to their hearts below. 

Now, at an angle, where the valley bends; 

He turns this angle with his veteran friends, 

When, lo! to his expectant eye, is spread 

What might have roused in little souls some dread ! 

Far o'er the valley, for a mile in space, 

And either hill, that here the vale embrace, 

Was spread the host that challeng'd him to fight ; 

They for their king, and he his country's right. . 

Once more the hero grasps the three-fold rein. 

And chocks his Coelim on the martial-plain : 

Meantime he levels his impassion'd eye, 

Upon the host that in the valley lie : 

Points to the troopers on the distant hills, 

Where the loud trumpet his great spirit thrills; 

And Coelim, too, the battle snuffs from far. 

As on his eyes the dazzUng armies flare: 

The rolling drums his innate metal stirs, 

As, prancing to the charge, he bends his ears; 

Rolls his large eyes upon tlie distant show. 

And, with his master, drinks the inspiring glow. 

These shadows pass'd before the Chieftain's eye ; 
They were his foes, and he disdain'd to fly ; 
Disposed in order in a circle wide. 
With all the equipage of martial pride. 
The drums still beat— -and still the trumpet's blast 
Swells on his ear— the shadows deep and vast ! 
Til rough his great bosom rolls a knightly love. 
Pure and all-chasten'd by the Power above: 
Thus fired with ardor, chaste as new-lain snow. 
But bright as evening in its sun-set glow; 
His mind, unshaken by the brewing storm. 
Resolved to meet it in its gravest form. 



64 THE COLOMAD. 

Still from the hills he sees more troops descend, 

His eyes, dilated, now in wonder bend: 

Meantime, his Ccelim bounds with joy to see, 

This vast assemblage, nerved by martial glee : 

He, like his master, casts his eyes afar, 

His spirit bounding with the feet that rear. 

Tirm on his stirrups now the Chieftain bears, 

His arm uplifted o'er his horse's ears : 

His finger points, beyond brave Coelim's head, 

To something hideous that now stirs his dread. 

Still, in the distance, other troopers come ; 

The trumpet guides them with the martial drum : 

The hill now glitters with the brazen host; — 

This is crowded — but the valley most. 

The Chief is brave — no braver e'er drew breath — 

Bethinks liim now 'tis madness to tempt death; 

But, meantime, in his slumber, he inclines, 

And calls his troops into their warlike lines : 

These, at his word, their various ranks present; 

Here is his army, there his council-tent. 

His generals, uniform'd, before him bow, 

And bend, uncover'd, each a veteran's brow : 

He beckons them, in council, at the tent; 

They yield, with cheerfulness, their grave assent: 

They seem to follow, as he leads the way, 

And, on a table, each a s&bre lay : 

These cross'd in form, as there they lay at rest, 

Proclaim the loyalty that rules each breast. 

Now, at a table, he (their Chieftnin) sat ; 

Each man restores his military hat, 

And, at the board, to him appear to chat. 

He sees them, meanwhile, in a dubious guise, 

And seems to follow them with real eyes; 

Their manner changes, then they look the same ; 

One takes another's look, but not liis name. 



THE COLONIAD, 65 

Now through a labyrinth his senses play ; 

These seem to leave him, then they seem to stay ; 

And here they rise upon his view again, 

And all appear as his familiar train. 

Each enters with his chieftain in debate; 

Discusses gravely the aflFairs of State: 

The Chieftain listens — and he seems to weigh, 

Each argument his several aids array: 

Here he dissents, or there consents, in form ; 

This course imprudent, that maturely warm. 

The court now o'er — the council-tent they leave — 

A benison from each their chief receive : 

They all retire — and to their several ranks; 

They speak their loyalty — and he his thanks. 

All in the tented-field appear again ; 

He, on his Coelim, with the thrible rein. 

Now war's loud thunders o'er the field prevail; 

The shadows thicken in the stormy dale ; — 

Lord Howe again is on his charger seen, 

Here gazing on his troops with eye serene : 

The shadows ihicken and the war matures; 

Meet on the plain, and there combat as fo«i. 

Bold Schuyler here his brave artillery led, 

The valley eching to the balls that sped : 

Brave Sullivan his horsemen form in square, 

Their keen-edged swords above their shoulders glare: 

These kindle in their Chief a newer glow, 

Lit from the valor that they seem to show. 

The bold Knyphausen, on the English side. 

Confronts these troopers with a martial pride: 

He spreads his horsemen in a lengthy line, 

Their polish'd swords above their shoulders shine; 

The dangling horse-hair from their rounded caps. 

Plays o'er their shoulders, where anon it stops; 

The brazen ridge that guards the cap is seen, 

Its broad refulgence shining o'er the green; 



66 THE COLOMAD. 

Their gaudy uniforms, meaiitime, display 

The pomp and circumstance of monarchy ! 

These ntiitual furies on each other gaze, 

Their eyes, dilated, as their passions blaze. 

Meantime, Gates, Greene, Lee, Heaih and Eeitzimer, 

With all their forces on the ground appear : 

Their posts assign'd — they by their captains led, 

With circumstance of war and .11 its dread : 

First, on the field, bold Gates his troops parade, 

Upon fleet horses, nervous and well made ; 

With polish'd rifles, o'er their shoulders swung, 

Or else, in rests, that from their saddles hung- : 

These made a grand and formidable show, 

On whom the Chieftain gazed with eyes that glow '■ 

The steeds were trophies of Canadian wars, 

With gallant France, who since espoused our cause. 

Next General Greene press'd bravely on the field, 

A troop 'of infantry — his country's shield: 

(He first, at Lexington, * assail'd the foe. 

When first they landed on Columbia's shore : 

His beauteous mansion he at once forsook, 

And to the sword and epaulet betook. 

Long will his lady at its lattice wait: 

His mastiff sorrow at his lonely gate ; 

His pleasant gardens, with gay flowers strown, 

His dog and lady now must rove alone.)] 

These took the post assign'd to their command, 

With pointed-muskets in each gallant iiand ; 

The Chieftain vievv'd them with an eye of pride, 

As in a square, upon the plain, they glide. 

Next Lee appear'd (who long in prison stay'd. 

When to Knyphausen's horse he was betray'd) ; 

Whose former troops f their fallen captain own, 

And mingle with his band upon the lawn. 

* Massachusetts. 

t Tlicie had been brouglil in bv Sullivan after liis en]ilure I'v llie I!i:gli; 
cavalry. 



THE. COLONIAD. 6? 

The Chieftain threw a sympathzing glance 

Upon the hero, as his troops advance. 

These passing on, Heath press'd upon the plain 

With his brigade, a bold and veteran train. 

Fired by glory and a hero's name. 

Fie left his mansion and devoted dame ; 

His charming house upon Potomac stood, 

Witli fertile acres, stretchini^ many a rood. 

His coursers, in their stables, idly neigh ; 

Their master gone — his country's cause must sway ; 

These race together on the grassy-meads, 

Unconscious that their master wars or bleeds. 

His minions, mindless of their absent lord. 

Now waste by plunder what his prudence stor'd. 

Next Reitzimer his bold division leads, 

Fam'd at Newcastle for their gallant deeds: 

As on they swept before the Chieftain's eye, 

A smile lit up his face like sun-set's sky ! 

He came from far across the briny-deep, 

Where all his first hopes tliere arose and sleep: 

Thence bearing in his breast those seeds of worth, 

That builds a home in any spot of earth, 

His gallant hand with rapture grasp'd the sword, 

And serv'd that cause his valor most ador'd. 

The generous Washington he souirht and found, 

When in adversity and England frown'd ; 

With philanthrophic heart he join'd his ranks, 

And gain'd no other than that hero's thanks ! 

All these grave shadows sweep across the field, 

The Chieftain saw them and disdain'd to yield: 

He saw their force—their skilful use of arms— 

What need was there to cower to war's alarms? 

Deep was his sleep and lengthy was his dream, 

Sure Heaven had bade these shadows flit and gleam ? 

They were his monitors — his friends and foes-- 

They vanish'd mutually as they arose." 



(3g THE COLONIAD. 



CANTO VII, 



Now through his tent the smiles of morn appear'd, 
The green was gladden-.d with the beams thut cheer d. 
The Chieftain, rising from his slumbers deep, 
Felt somewhat shaken by tumultuous sleep! 
Forth on the shore, where all his tents were spread, 
The Chieftain wandered, by his fancy led : 
The morning air his flagging pulse restor'd, 
And like a balsam through his senses flow d. 
AH now was real which his eyes survey'd; 
His dream had vanish'd with each mighty shade. 
There roll'd the Delaware, with ceaseless flow, 
To the deep bosom of its Bay below : 
Here stood his camp, with its diminish'd host, 
His country's bulwark, on her Northern coast : 
That country, now assail'd by wastmg foes, 
Had drawn him to the field to share her woes 
The few stout hearts that to her cause adher d, 
He fain would fancy in his dream appear'd. - 
His Rubicon had now been pass'd-and all 
That could distress him were his country's fall! 
His life was pledg'd to her by every tie 
That sprang from interest, or in honor he. 
Let den.agogues to gilded fame aspire, 
And barter liberty in British hire, 
But as for him-by the Eternal Cause 
That gave the world its being and its laws,- 
He was resolv'd to silence every foe, 
Who raised a standard on Columbia's shore. 



THE COLONIAD. 69 

Or fall himself against her foes in fight, 

Whose wrongs had wrung her by outraging right ! 

Thus mused the Chief, as on the Delaware, 

He gazing stood, and quaff'd the morning air. 

Momentous thoughts had, meanwhile, stir'd his breast. 

Whose swollen tides his private griefs arrest : 

Hence, from the river shore his steps he bent. 

Towards his camp and to his private tent. 

There, to that God who shakes the solid world. 

In solemn prayer the hero's thoughts unfold. 

To this strong tower all his hopes were borne. 

And o'er its battlements his griefs were thrown: 

Divine Messiah on the hero smiled ; — 

His prayer was heard — the Father reconcil'd I 

A Genius felt, but, unperceived, appear'd ; 

Spoke to his spirit— and his spirit heard. 

As the thrilling accents from the Genius fell, 

Thus flow'd and syllabl'd the mystic epell : 

" Henceforth, in future, go unscath'd in war : 

No ball shall harm thee and no sword need awe!'-' 

(So spake the genius that embraced his mind. 

And left the pledge that nerved his soul behind. 

The hero strengthen'd by the quick'ning charm, 

Received the favor in a prayerful form.) 

Again the Genius' syllables unroll. 

In words consoling to the Chieftain's soul ; 

And thus, in form, the glowing words were wrought, 

That sprang like light'ning on his charm'd thought: 

" The clouds that gather are but sent to test 

The virtual essence of a trusting breast: 

Be then but faithful to thy guardian, Truth, 

And ' weapon form'd ' shall never harm on earth I " 

So spake the Genius— and a joyous glow 

Rush'd through his senses to his heart below: 

The Ethereal Impulse took its mystic way. 

And left his mind unfetter'd by its sway ; 



*0 THE COLOKIAD. 

Yet still the glow imparted to his soul, 

Thence nor subsided nor exerts control. 

But, faithful to the all-divine impress, 

The Chieftain's soul was borne above distress ; 

And ne'er from thence did harm assail him more, 

Cloth'd in that armor that the wise adore. 

Meantime had Howe at Trenton* made a stand, 

Proposing thence to enter on PENN-land ; 

And, as in Jersey, sweep with fire and sword, 

Its rebel-outlaws and disloyal-horde ! 

Like a huge bird of prey upon his perch. 

His eyes threw, here and there, their bloody search ; 

Then soaring forth, in circuits far and wide. 

He darts upon his prey with savage pride. 

Now gazing Southward, with an eagle's eye, 

O'er Delaware his paths of carnage lie ; 

Where Philadelphia lifts her polish 'd brow, 

And smiles, quiescent, as her rivers flow 4 

One arm upon the Delaware is placed, 

The other by the Schuylkill meekly graced ! 

With sanguinary rage the warrior boils, 

And chafes, with amorous thirst, for Beauty's spoils 

One wing of carnage cover'd Hackensack, 

And one Mount Holly — Princeton at his back ; 

While Brunswick and Elizabeth * he ey'd, 

With all the fervor of his English pride. 

But, idly-dozing in his tent at will, 

(His wings at Hackensack and Holly still,) 

His head was haunted with delusive dreams, 

Of ravag'd cities and blockaded streams; 

Of vanquislrd rebels — each demolish'd fort ! — 

And princely presents from his king and court! 

But Boreas rides upon the icy air. 

And, with his besom, sweeps gay nature bare; 

* Towns ill New Jersey. i The Delaware and Si'Iiuylkill. 



THE COLOXIAD. 71 

Breaths on the streams, and stills their purlin o- flow 
And laughs to scorn Appollo's orient brow ! 
Meantime, with forethouT-ht of a matchless mind, 
Had Freedom's Chieftain all his troops combin'd : 
The Woods of Penn * now echoed to their tread, 
As o'er the Delaware their war-path led- 
Down on the western shore they firmly press, 
And fire their valor from their Chief's distress. 
Now at McKonkey's ferry these arrive, 
And in his barges rest their swarmini; hive. 

Peniisvlvanii. 



72 . 



THE COLONIAD. 



CANTO VIII. 

Low bows the Sun behind the western hills, 
And lights up nature with a smile that thrills ; 
Both mead and stream confess his gladd'ning ray, 
While thus he lingers and prolongs the day: 
Soft breezes starting from the wooing vales, 
As through the woody-slopes hia vesture trails ! 
Down sinks the sun, and darkness reigns profound 
Upon the hills by which the river wound ; 
The night, tempestuous with the northern blast, 
The chief and aids their mantles o'er them cast : 
These now embody all their active force. 
And, with their camp and equipage, re-crosa. 
Long did they labor in the icy-air. 
To land their cannons o'er the Delaware : 
The oaken-barges, 'neath the iron load, 
Stoop'd to their pressure as they wheel'd on board ; 
While fragments of descending ice impede 
The progress of the barge — its oars invade. 
But, toiling late, the Chieftain's troops debark, 
And march to Trefton, though the night is dark: 
Swift fell the rain, the ground with sleet incas'd. 
Cold was the night which all his veterans faced : 
Down into Trenton, they with valor sped. 
The Chief, on Coolin, marching at their head. 
In two divisions, ere they reach'd the town. 
The veterans press'd, in view of glory's crown : 
One, led by Washington, for valor famed ; 
And one, by Irvine, with like pride inflam'd. 



THE COLONIAD. 

There, Rahl — the captain of the Hessian host — 
(Who, in Howe's absence, kept his master's post,) 
Steep'd in potations of his " lager-bicr ,'''' 
Thought not of Hesse, or that the foe was near ! 
No drum was heard, no trumpet's Wast proclaim'd 
The waving banners, and the foe inflam'd : 
All still and slow — yet firmly press'd along, — 
Fir'd with that essence that inspires my song ! 
Nine miles they travell'd, through the sleet and rain, 
Ere from the ferry they had reach'd the plain : 
This now in view, erelong they reach the town, 
Behind some hills that on the river frown. 
Meantime a fog that from a marsh arose, 
Obstruct their view and float between the foes. 
Through this they wade, ail-noiselessly and still, 
And cross the common that wound round a hill : 
These, are by Washington, in person, led — 
The rest, with Irvine, strike the foe with dread. 
Each simultaneously attack the foe : 
They sweep the "pickets" — and their cannons roar; 
Press on the town, with all their iron charge ; 
And crush through buildings, with the balls at large. 
The startled Hessians through the village swarm, 
And flock in bodies to arrest the storm : 
These, now combin'd, are led by Colonel Rahl, 
Who, at their head, died from a envious ball. 
This, through their ranks, death's pendant terrors spreads, 
Their veterans scatter'd and their leader dead ; 
They yield their arms, imprison'd in the host, 
Who scour the village and the neighboring coast. 
One thousand men, perforce, laid down their arms, 
Five hundred fugitives escaped in swarms : 
Amidst the fight and whirl of balls they fled; 
And, o'er the bridge, to Bordentown they sped : 



73 



74 



THE COLOKIAD. 



Here these arriv'd, at great expense of breritii, 

Proclaim their colonel's fall and gallant death. 

Brave Irvine had arrived too late to head 

The flying fugitives, by terror led. 

He, to the Trenton ferry, had been sent 

To check their egress, where their course was bent. 

Meantime, Cadwallader his troops had led 

Towards Mount Holly— there no blood was shed.! 

Down to Duke's ferry, where he deign'd to cross. 

The hero press'd his infantry and horse : 

The frozen stream obstructs the hero's way. 

And back he wander'd where his Chieftain lay ! 

The Chieftain to his former camp return'd. 

And bore tlie trophies which his valor earn'd. 

New York was garrison'd by British troops; 
Nfew Jersey, conquer'd, to the conquerers stoops; 
Pennsylvania, ravaged and laid wa.ste, 
Endur'd her wrongs with an unruffl'd face; 
But, now this victory, like an entering- wedge 
Encourag'd all — and all again engage! 
Now to the Chieftain's camp vast numbers press, 
Who both his valor and his skill confess. 



THE COLONIAD. • ^^ 



CANTO IX. 

VVar's furious trump by Murs is fill'd once more : 
Loud was its echo on the Atlantic shove ! 
An^ain the Chieftain cross'd the Delaware, 
And met, unmoved, the swollen blast of war! 
The Enorlish Chieftain from his trance awoke. 
Felt all that rage fallacious hopes provoke : 
He, travelling far, upon the Hudson's shores, 
To view his garrisons and warlike stores, 
Had left his Hessians on Mount-Holly's hill, — 
In Trenton, Princeton, Elizabethville, — 
Each led by captains of decided skill. 
Those ^at Mount-Holly, were by Agnew led; 
Those at Trenton, by brave Rahl, now dead ; 
Those at Princeton, were by Mawiiood ruled ; 
Those at Elizabethville, by Erskine * school'd. 
So flush'd was Howe, by the delusive charms 
That sooth'd his senses, in Dame Fortune's arms, 
He fain was led to deem bright Freedom's war, 
An idle pastime — a breath-wafted straw ; 
Which he, at any time, could silence quite, 
If but the rebel-host would fairly fight ! 
But now how chang'd — how madden'd every pulse; 
His Trenton storm'd — his garrisons convulse ! 
Swift on his way the Albion hero strode — 
His steed was good, and guarded was the road : 
Down to New-Jersey (which he held in scorn ! ) 
The hero press'd, as fierce as "hope forlorn"! 

♦ Sir William Erskine. 



76 



THE COLONIAD. 



Ere this, but half the gloomy tale was told ; 

Now on his eyes the other half unfold : — 

His gallant Eahl was by the rebels slain, 

And not a Hesse to swell his funeral train; 

Perhaps not buried ! on the river shore, 

His dear remains yet linger in their gore ; 

Or, if inurn'd, by rebel-hands was spread 

The clay that presses his patrician-head 

One thousand Hessians (who from Hesse I bore 

In yonder navy in the Bay below*), 

Are snatch'd away, in an unguarded hour. 

And held as trophies of a rebel's pow'r ! 

One hundred of the mercenaries slain ; 

Five hundred fled, and since rejoin'd my train : 

Now, to match this, I have a plan in view — 

(Sink down, my thoughts, whilst springs the mournful dew 

On their brave ashes let my tears descend ; 

' Tis all the brave attain who life expend 1) — 

A plan that will, in this impoverish'd state, 

Tend much to dissipate the gains of late, f 

Hence, to my camp, where all my aids have met, 

To study schemes yon rebels to upset ! " 

Thus mused the proud and unrelenting lord, 

As from sad Trenton, on his steed, he rode. 

Now at his camp, he from his stirrups lit. 

Rage fiU'd his eyes ; suppress'd, he bit his lip. 

Approaching slow. Sir Erskine he address'd, 

(A knight of honor whom the camp confess'd,) 

And thus reveal'd the purpose of his mind ; 

To whom, as chief, the mission was assign'd : 

" Know, then, brave Erskine, that yon rebel-crew, 

(And ye, his compeers, Tryon and Agnew ! ) 

* Delaware Bay. t Spoils at Trenton. 



THE COLONIAD. 77 

Have sorely grieved my all-forbearing mind, 

By an exploit invidious and ill-timed. 

My gallant Rahl sleeps on the Trenton plain, 

Together with a hundred Hessians slain: 

One thousand borne beyond my present sway, 

To do the will of him whom they would slay : 

And all my stores and war-equipmeuts gone — 

My wine in cellars, and my barns of corn: 

My cloaks of fur, from Petersburgh * brought ; 

And tents, from London, by Pelinski wrought : 

My blades from Sheffield, of Toledo steel, 

(Whose points, in other hands, we yet may feel,) 

Swept from the garrison, in which they hung, 

Are now, as trophies, on yon rebels swung ! 

Much will ye miss the flasks of Samian wine, 

The spoils of England on the stormy brine; 

Lost to our eyes are all its winning hue. 

And to our palates the inspiring-dew ! 

Loud will our steeds their empty troughs deplore. 

Their corn now ravaged by the rebel-foe ! 

For these grave grievances, I now invest. 

First you. Sir Erskine, of undaunted breast ; 

And next, brave Tryon and as brave Agnew, 

To wreak my vengance on yon rebel crew: 

Go then to Danbury, where their stores are kept, 

And take two thousand men, all well equip't. 

My fleet, now idle, can convey them round, 

And from the ocean reach Long Island Sound. 

Now, in Connecticut, you thence proceed. 

Along the Sound, which to its rivers lead ; 

These, deep and broad, some distance you may trace, 

And thence debarking, reach your destin'd place. 

* In Russia. 



78 



THE COLOMAD. 



Take you swift horses, ample warlike stores, 
T ' ensure retreat, and guard ngainst your foes. 
When you debark, be sure and hew your way, 
With a broad sweep, to little Danbury. 
When in the village, let your cannons roar ; 
Beat down their houses, and destroy their stoi*e. 
Despatch this quick, and let your pow'r be felt ; 
Impress a lesson in each blow there dealt. 
Their beef and pork (an army's greatest stay) 
Sweep from their hands, or burn it whore it lay : 
Their flour, too, (that savoury staff of life, 
(jrive to the winds, which in those parts are vifo : 
Those dear consolers, which uplift the low — 
Rum, gin, or brandy — let the liquids flow : 
And all their tents — those rain-combatting screens — 
Give to the flames, their ashes to the greens; 
That they no more (since on the greens they lie), 
May guard yon rebels from a threat'uing sky. 
Go now, my generals — hasten with all speed — 
Agnew and Tryon— Erskine you may lead." 
The Brit now ceased — and swift his generals flow, 
Erskine the first, then Tryon and Agnew. 

Meantime had Washington increas'd his force. 
By every just and laudable resource : 
His groaning country now upbraids his ear, 
Arous'd his valor and allay'd his fear; 
He forth to Trenton with his army strode, 
Cross'd the ferry, and took the river road. 
Arrived at Trenton, here resolved to stand, 
Where Howe's vast army overs|)read the land. 
Here forms his plans — now tliis he waives and that — 
Till late and last, at Princeton they combat. 
Fierce was the contest, much he has at stake, 
His cannons thunder while his foe they rake! 



THE COLONIAD. 

Full in tl)e press and hottest of the fire, 

The Chieftain bears, and by his deeds inspire : 

Ball answers ball, and sword on sword is clash'd, 

And gaudy uniforms with blond are dash'd ; 

While many an officer, in coat-of-red, 

Ere set of sun, there found a redder bed. 

What deeds of valor on the Princeton plain, 

Lie hid forever from the eyes of men ! 

How few there are among the truly brave, 

Above whose dust the obelisk shall wave ! 

How few whose names descend to future times, 

Eml)lazon'd with the fame each deed sublimes! 

What numbers on the side of right enjrage, 

And, in themselves, combme the hero-sage; 

Their ardent ashes, in abstraction rapp'd, 

AU-caldly scatter'd, their great bosoms sap'd ! 

Their dust now hidden on the iron hills. 

Unknown, uncar'd fof, cold oblivion chills! 

One hundred Britons for their king expire--- 

Three hundred. Hessians wi'h the Chief* retire: 

Napoleon and his Australitz must pale, 

Before Columbia's Chief in sacred-mail : 

The genius of Columbia's Chief will rank 

In glory, with the all -eclipsing Frank : 

One, sway'd by justice and his country's call, , 

Resolved to conquer or beneath it fall; 

Nor rush'd, with suicidal rage inflamed, 

On rights his country would not thence have elaim'd; 

And one, influenced by Ambition's fire, 

To Fame's enchanted dome would fain aspire; 

Where, winding through its sounding corridours. 

Its lonely chambers and their silence awes! 

# :f # # * 

* WashitiKlon. 



79 



80 THE COLONIAD. 



CANTO X. 

But back again, O Muse of mine ! and trace 
Columbia's Chieftain in his future race: 
Thy song, now lengthy, must unduly close, * 
On each gradation as the hero rose. 

The Chieftain's great and fertile mind confess'd, 
His chivalry is to the brave address'd ! 
With a mere handful of dishearteh'd troops, 
He nor to Howe nor frowning Fortune stoops: 
One, with a numerous and disciplin'd force. 
Guards every point upon his bloody course: 
Each ravaged city and invaded town, 
Wherein his garrisons of soldiers frown ; 
Each stream and outlet on the Northern coast, 
By fleets block'd up, at once his jest and boast; 
Himself a veteran from Europia's shore. 
As skill'd in war as learn'd in bookish lore, 
geem'd with the scars, which meekly speak the praise 
Of those o'er whom Fame's war-escutcheons blaze. 
The other, oa Potomac's shore was rear'd, 
In his Virginia, cherish'd and revear'd ! 
Where through its sylvan shades he meekly bent, 
With peace enamour'd and his fame content : 
The " even tenor " of his way unmar'd, 
He only sought what Justice should regard; 
His virtues rooted in a copious mind, 
He scorn'd each act that would degrade his kind : 

* I am fill nf matter and could write Tolumes, but I have neither tlie 
lime nor the means to apply where there is no real apprecialion. 



THE COLONIAD. 81 

Sublimely spurning every base desire, 

Vice fail'd to win whom virtue deign'd inspire. 

Bat when his country call'd — her foe in sight, — 

He seized the sword and sought the field of fight; 

Where, with prudential skill he weigh'd each plan 

To foil the foe — his country's freedom gain. 

These two great generals now together brought—. 

For England one, and one Columbia, fought. 

O'erwhelmn'd at Trenton and at Princeton spoil'd, 

Lord Howe's proud bosom with resentment boiled : 

Both these great battles bear his name on high, 

And, in degree, with aught recorded vie : 

For courage, plan, or strategy, they rank 

With any that exalts the towering Frank : * 

Millions slain tests not a general's skill — 

' Tis in the scheme that shields from those who kill! 

The plan mature, the instantaneous sweep, 

That wins the battle by a prudent step. 

Who so mad, as not condemn the rage, 

That levels Athos, or a flood would cage ? 

Look at the millions that he f led to Greece? 

How few return'd ! Does that his fame increase? 

And who so blind, as not the like condemn, 

If seas of blood confirms his diadem? 

Where is the wisdom when, through Alpine snows, 

Mistaken valor with mad fury pours; — 

Who, rushing on, with but a shade in view, 

Would sink a million, yet the shade pursue ? 

O'er Russian deserts to pursue it still — 

The Etna of such breast must know no chill ! 

Wolves at his heels — ail-madly still he pours — 

His buoyant spirit smiles above his woes — 

* Napoleon Bonaparte. 
t Xerxes, 



82 THE COLON! AD. 

Till, late and last, he leaps into a sleigh, 
And bounds to France upon his icy way : 
"When there, a handful of the Gallian crew. 
Is all La Grand, the loftj, can revieiT ! 
How diif'rent is the man of soul serene. 
With temper chasten'd with a mystic chain ! 
Sublime he soars, and draws from all the stars, 
The sparkling virtues that his bosom shares : 
His feet on Freedom's "heaven-kissing" hill; 
The star that guides him is his country's will— 
His crown her freedom, and its gems the States, 
"Which he, high-towering, lifts above the Fates ; 
Shakes, sparkling to the skies, his jewell'd crown, 
And dares Earth's despots thence to tear it down! 
This is the man that wakes my innate fire — 
His is the cause that such as me admire ! 

Now swift to Morristown the Chief repairs, 
When ceas'd the thunder of his mighty wars.* 
CoRNWALLis heard at Assumpink their roar, 
And to New Brunswick with his forces bore: 
Some fugitives, from Princeton, here report 
The overthrow of Mawhood and his route : 
So to New Brunswick f he, in haste, was drawn. 
To secure his magazine within that town. 
Meantime Lord Howe, with concentrated force, 
Drew up at Amboy, since his grievous loss : 
Here, in close quarters, he deplores his fate — 
His Hessians slain, with Raul, and Captain Tate! 
And Princeton seemed a bright and sparkling gem 
On Freedom's mighty Chieftain's diadem ; 
Which caught the eye of the invidious Howe, 
And lit with fury his patrician brow. 

* At Trenton and Princeton. 
tOn the Raritan. 



THE COLONIAD. 83 

Metbinks, in this strain, soar'd his lordship's mind, 
With scorn and envy, in his breast, combin'd: 
" Can it be possible, yon rebel aims 
To cope with one from Mars-emblazon'd Thames? 
One who, in Albion, wore 'victorious wreaths,' 
The laurels of his Gallic victories? 
Can he presume to measure swords with one 
Whose trophies are the pride of Albion ? 
Where, in her castles, now tliose sliields are hung 
He snatch'd from Gallic foes, on heroes swung? 
Those mighty bows, that, in the ancient days, 
Were used by warriors with distinguish'd praise. 
And hung, as monuments of their renown, 
Within a castle, whence they seem'd to frown • 
When snatch'd away by me, in battle's rage. 
With valiant forces after lengthy seige. 
Profidious rebel ! nurtur'd by our arms. 
In sylvan regions, where the savage swarms ; 
Dost thou presume to lift thy puny arm 
Against thy king, and me, his minion, harm ? 
That king who, by the virtue of his crown, 
Claims these fair regions where, in arms, you frown : 
That king, who valiant armies hither sent, 
And its resources, with his treasure, bent ; 
Curb'd that untoward, inauspicious race. 
Who wander'd, idly, through its sylvan waste? , 
Prun'd its broad forests, nurtur'd here those arts, 
Without whose presence— nations are but warts;— 
Excrescences upon the world's broad breast ; — 
As nature's blemish, so her shame and pest ! 
Yon ragged rebels, ' twere a shame to kill, 
Shall feed the crow, if they resist my will. 
I came to curb their turbulence and rage, 
Nor deem them equals in the war I wage ! 



84 THE COLONIAD. 

What blindness must possess the plebeian mind! 
They doubly so -whose leader is the '■'■■hlind'''' ! 
But, surely some deceptive fancy charms ! 
That thus they rush into destruction's arms ! 
How can they hope to check my veteran crews, 
With brows bespangled -with ensanguin'd-dews, 
And breasts all-seamed, the scars of Norman wars, 
Where they, as victors, won their king's applause ? 
Gaze on yon coast — and then upon my fleet ! 
While that can anchor, can they shun defeat? 
Does not my Hessians swarm on yonder shore? 
If these shall perish, Hesse can furnish more ! 
Cannot ray fleet bear from the Hessian-hive, 
Its scurvy swarms, who best on carnage thrive ? 
What can they, then, from their rebellion gain? 
But that chastisement which the king shall deign? 
Their rights, if any, shall be swept away, 
And taxes levied, with unbounded sway : 
Each pale of glass, through which the rebels gaze, 
Shall pain their eyes from its ioo-golden rays I 
The cups from which they sip the Chian drug, 
Shall ivave the sigh which cost full many a shrug; 
And that narcotic shall as wormwood taste, 
When foV its pleasure they incur disgrace ! 
Best here, base rebel ! ' till my armies shine, 
When thou nor boast, nor I shall need repine. " 
Thus spake the minion of the British crown — 
Arms folded on his breast, his brow a frown. 
Meantime, New-Jersey, chafed by servile woe, 
Trew off the shackles of a chasten'd foe ; 
Since mighty Washington now blazed in war, 
Above the tyrant that inspir'd its awe: 
Its humbled natives now in arms arise. 
And march with banners on their enemies; 



THE COLONIAD. 85 

Who, in New Brunswick, sunk somewhat in sloth. 

And eyes less vigilant upon the North, 

Are set upon by various bands in arms, 

And taken captive in their Hessian swarms. 

Now things look clieerful, that before had droop'd, 

And States now threaten that before had stoop'd. 

Their Conj/ress sees it, and affords its aid, 

Without debate or much fanfaronade: 

With warmth it enters in the nation's cause, 

With men and money and its due applause. 



86 THE COLONIAD. 



CANTO XI. 

Now Freedom's Chieftnin over Jersey sweeps, 
And, in his battles, much advantage reaps. 
Among its highlands all his troops repose, 
And watch, with vigilance, their British foes. 
Meantime, the Chieftain, with jjrudential care, 
Inoculates his army as a bar 
Against the ravage of a fearful plague,* — 
More fear'd than snow; than frost without a rag! 
Now sixteen regiments, by Congress raised 
From thirteen Provinces, with valor blazed ; 
Those Provinces that sign'd the Immortal Creed f 
Their swords, the pens; the ink, the blood that freed! 
Each, in their order, from their Slates, then came 
(Led by bold captains of undoubted fame) 
To the camp, at Morristown, | by hills enclosed, 
Where Freedom's Champion from his toils repos'd. 
Each colonel now, his regiment presents, 
Before his Chieftain's and his compeers' tents; 
The Chieftain, rising from his ample seat. 
In union with his aids, these colonels greet: 
One from Virginia — first among the States — 
A proud division, led by Colonel Gates : 
He left his mansion, where at ease he lived ; 
His lady long the absent colonel griev'd. 
His hounds, then scatter'd through his parks alone, 
These howl'd unguided by the winding-horn ! 

* The small-pox. 

t Declaration of Intlepcndence. 

I A village in the hi^hlanJs of New Jersey. 



THE COLONIAD. 

Some States sent two, and some but one supplied • 
A common foe had every State allied ; 
A common danger put mistrust aside ; 
Concert in action was their safest guide. 
These new recruits now to their tents repair, 
And in the honors of the campaign share. 

Meantime had Erskine, Tryon and Agnew, 
Arrived at Danbnry with their liostile crew, 
Where they fulfil the mission of their lord, 
With fell destruction both with fire and sword : 
The stores they scatter'd and some natives slew, 
And fired the village, ere they thence withdrew. 
But, ere they reach the Sound,* on their return, 
Bold WoosTER, Sullivan and Arnold,! burn 
With indignation, and repair, in haste. 
To stop the onslaught and malicious waste. 
Six hundred men to Danbury march, and view 
The work of Tryon, Erskine, and Agnew ! 
Their bold pursuers form their men in bands ; 
Brave Wooster one, and Arnold one, commands: 
Night's friendly sliades now o'er the land extends, 
As Arnold with his band to Ridgefield bends. 
All night he inarch'd, to reach the point in view, 
And fight base Tryon, Erskine and Agnew. 
Meantime, had Wooster, in their rear, employ'd 
His brave " sharp-shooters," who, with ball, annoy'd : 
All on fleet horses, with brave Wooster, bound ; 
Now through a swamp; again, on higher ground: 
The whizzing ball plays o'er Sir Erskine's cap; 
Its plumage trembles to the fiery rap: 
Stung with the insult, his indignant glow 
Is foUow'd with a charge and fatal blow: 
Great Wooster, | old in years, while rallying near. 
Sinks with a wound, which points him to his bier. 

* Long Island Sound. + Afterwards traitor. t History says 70 



S7 



88 THE COLONIAD. 

Through bis brave heart the leaden-missive sped, 

And, rolling from bis horse, bis spirit fled. 

His scatter'd troopers to their horses take. 

And bound o'er bill, and through the "slashes" break. 

The rain, from frowning clouds, in torrents pour, 

As, on their bounding steeds, they swiftly soar : 

The timely shower checks the British horse, 

Who, in pursuit, were bending from their course. 

These now return, and on to Ridgefield bear, 

With rattling swords and caps with streaming hair. 

As from the vale that spreads below the town, 

The sun-beams smile away night's sable frown, 

A gaudy troop along the vale are spread; 

Which o'er small souls would throw a shade of dread : 

These through the town now press, upon their way. 

Where, in the Sound, their anchor'd vessels lay. 

Now in the village, they propose tc stop, 

Where Arnold loiter'd with his mounted-troop; 

These charge and fire, upon the foe that thread 

The street that mainly through the village led : 

Within a wood, that border'd on the town, 

Whose shady brow upon the houses frown, 

Bold Arnold from Sir Erskine's search retir'd, 

Soon as his troopers on the foe had fired. 

This way they gaze, on that they cast an e)e, 

And turn, astonished, where their comrades lie : 

The driven bullets through their caps have torn. 

And search'd the brain beneath the yielding bone. 

Now once again bold Arnold's troopers charge; 

One whistle more — each rifle-ball 's at large ! 

Down in the dust Sir Erskine's troopers lay. 

Meet tribute to brave Wooster's valiant clay ! 

Now through the bushes Erskine's troopers press, 

Fir'd with resentment from their own distress : 

Meantime bold Arnold his retreat secur'd, 

On noble steeds himself and troopers rode ! 



THE COLONIAD. 89 

Next day, when to the sound Sir Erskine march'd; 
His eyes along the road with caution search'd : 
But Arnold, vers'd in all the nearer-cuts, 
Dispos'd his troopers in some neighb'ring huts; 
Here, as Sir Erskine bent upon his way, 
Brave Arnold's riflemen more troopers slay ! 
The sloping thicket that here lined the road, 
Conceal'd brave Arnold in a sylvan shroud. 
Now, again he fired and again they fall — 
His braves had planted every leadcn-ball ! 
Now up the Bteep Sir Erskine's troopers bear, 
The bushes tremble as their sabres glare; 
Down roll the foremost where the leaves are spread, 
Stunn'd by the driven and vindictive lead. 
Now others press, where these had led the way, 
And pass the thickets where the houses lay ; 
But all was vacant — Arnold having fled — 
Far o'er the hills his towering troopers sped ! 
A modest monument o'er Wooster's clay, 
By Congress order'd, points us where it lay ! 
And Arnold, as a mark of its regard, 
A steed, caparison'd, from Congress heir'd. 
Meantime brave Meigs, his veteran forces bore 
Full on Long Island, from the Hudson's shore; 
Now, to Sag Harbour he then forced his way. 
Where Howe's war-vessels near the Island lay: 
An armed schooner, with her guns, now bear 
Upon his soldiers, as the shores they near : 
These o'er his head and on the shore are spent, 
"While to the shore he makes his fierce descent. 
Now upon deck his active warriors leap. 
And overboard the slight resistance sweep : 
The sailors yield, so swift his blows descend, 
And, at the hero's will, their service lend. 
Now to the ship he bids them lead the way. 
And, when on deck, he sweeps his foes away. 



90 THE COLONIAD. 

The astonisli'd Britons -with aniazemer.t view, 
This speedy conquest of their veternn-crevv. 
Fortli from its cellar all its stores are brought : 
Its powder, ball, and all with which they fought. 
This they convey'd upon the schooner's deck. 
With ev'rything they could, with safety, take ; 
Then binding all that yet remain'd alive. 
Beneath the hatchway the offenders Hive. 
Now to the ship brave Meigs applies the torch, 
And, with his booty, thence avoid all search ! 



THE COLONIAD. 91 



CANTO XII. 

Now was the Chieftaia's camp, at Morristown, 
Removed to INIidtllebrook, still farther down; 
In order to obtain a nearer view, 
And watch the movements of his foeman, Howe, 
And all the levies that were lately made, 
Were daily, at his tent, npon parade: 
Some were, in swordmanship, here exercised, 
And some to thrust the bayonet practised; 
Some, in horsemanship, were taught to charge, 
And how, with skill, to wield their swords at large; 
Some taught to time their steps with measur'd tread, 
And brace their limbs, and bear aloft the head ; 
Some, with the quoit, their slight-of-hand display'd, 
Within the camp, beneath an ample shade; 
Some leap, with lusty-limb, each hand in poize. 
And spend their leisure, without strife or noise ; 
And all, in turn, within the outposts stand, 
Their muskets charged, and braced upon the hand ; 
While at their posts, the winged-hours they tell, 
When drowsy night provokes the cry — "All's Well!" 
Meanwhile, apart, within an ample tent, 
Wine sparkles to the glow of sentiment : 
Their officers are seated 'round the board. 
And swell with valor as the wine has flow'd. 
Each here relates the prowess of his arm. 
Their spirits softened by the sherry's charm : 
Their deeds of valor in the Clinton charge,* 

* At Lon? Island. 



92 



THE COLONIAD. 



"Where foot-to-foot and sword-to-sword, at large, 

They cut their way through the invading press, 

As Sullivan and Stirling both confess. 

Thus talking long, and with good wine inspired, 

They acted now as when in battle fir'd ; 

And thus influenced by the pleasing juice, 

They seek their couches after long carouse. 

Apart from those, their Chieftain's tent uprose, 

"Within a circle other tents enclose; 

Where, on a table, in the centre placed, 

A modest lamp intruding gloom efiaced. 

Here sat the Chieftain, with the Bible spread. 

From which he drew its soul-sustaining bread; 

Meantime his mind with purer thoughts possesjs'd. 

Than bigots nourish in their zeal profess'd. 

The Chieftain bows all-meekly in his tent, 

(Each thought, each passion, meanwhile, with him bent,) 

To Him alone, whose all-ethereal glare. 

Darts through eternity from star to star: 

To Him, whose pencil writes upon the sky. 

When forked fires o'er its cerulean fly, 

(His soul now bathed in pure Saloam's pool, 

"Whose sight-elixir makes his vision whole.) 

The Chieftain's thoughts hath sought thai Chieftain there, 

Before whose face Messiah bows in prayer ; 

And spreads the sins, first, of his Church below. 

And next, the world, sunk in its shame and woe ; 

O'er which his hands, more pure than lilly-white, 

Are lifted constant in his Father's sight. 

And shows a figure which he bore on earth, 

More dear to Him than all that Heaven is worth ! 

On which His Father bends his awful eyes, 

While in His sight the race of Adam lies ; 

And pardons or refrains from %orath-AWvaQ, 

As in that figure all His virtues shine ! 



THB COLONIAD. 93 

Where, naked to His world-o'ersearehing eye, 
All acts of men, in every region, lie ; 
Each thought, each motive, each intention, clear 
As rays of sapphire, from His Throne, appears! 
To Him, in thought, the Chief serenely bows, 
And wafts on high his soul-inspired vows — 
His sins, his country, and his soldiers, claim 
And share the incense from the kindling flame! 
All his great generals now before him rise : 
Brave G-ates appears where Saratoga* lies : 
Next mighty Putnam, of unflinching soul, 
From *' Horseneck," glitters on the mental scroll : 
(Ho who, once corncr'd when his fight was o'er, 
Adown a hundred steps f on horseback bore ! 
The British deem'd they had secur'd their prize, 
'Till from the valley they saw Putnam rise; 
They dar'd not follow — but their bullets flew: 
None touch'd the hero — but his hat* they "slew!" 
Brave Mercer next before his mind arose, 
Who fell at Princeton,! wall'd-iu by his foes; 
(Ail-brightly shone the dauntless hero then. 
Who, ere he falter'd, slew nine Englishmen; 
And, when upon the ground the hero lay, 
His ebbing valor urged him still to slay!|. ) 
And next, within the chieftain's vision stood. 
The noble Bay now guarded by Smallwood, ^ 
Next Sullivan on Pompton Plains is seen. 
Among the Highlands, near a village green. 
Lord Stirling, Musgrove, Greene and Wayne appear. 
Each at his post, unswayed by servile-fear; 

* In the State of New York. 

I Stone steps at Hcr^eneck meeting-house, 

* Military Hat. t New Jersey. 

* Like Crockett at the battle of Alarmo, Texn.s. 

§ The Delaware Bay, where General Snialiwood was posted. 



94 THE COLONIAD. 

Then Sterling,* Stephens, Lee and Meigs, extend 
Their bold divisions to his vision's end. 
(Long trains of heroes on his memory crowd, 
All prancing to the war on chargers proud; 
'Twould tire the Muse to sing or say their names. 
All acted noble — some Virginia claims.) 
O'er each, in prayer, he lifts a holy hand; 
There stood his country — here his generals stand. 

* Not Lord Stirling. 



THE COLOXIAD. 95 



CANTO XIII. 

Now swarm the shores of Brandywiae * with troops ; 
Here tlie American, there the British groups : 
Knyphausen, Howe, Cornwallis each are there, 
And in the sun tlieir gaudy armies glare; 
Which Washingtom, the graud-of-soul surveys, 
As o'er the Brandywine tlie , Britons blaze: 
Here press'd bold Sullivan his troop of horse, 
And Smallwood, on the Bay, in ample force : 
His troops from Maryland to battle came. 
All fired by valor and in love with fame ! 
Knyphausen, at Chadd's Ford, all fiercely gazed, 
On Wayne's division, that before him blaz'd : 
The first, with fury dancing in his eye, 
Resolved to pass, or in the stream to die ; 
The second, with a valor just as true, 
Resolved to check him — but at last withdrew : 
Here thunder'd Howe, with eighteen thousnnd troop?, 
Spread from Elk river, in discipliu'd groups, 
To Philadelphia's neat and polished town : 
On which they gnzed — but met our chieftain's frown! 
Much blood was spilt — much valor here was shown, 
The Americans few — the British army swoll'n : 
The British fresh well-cloth'd, well-fed, well armed ; 
The *first were poor, though all by valor warm'd. 
Here great La Fayette in the action bled. 
While rallying some recruits that thence hid fled. 
He left his native land and fair estate. 
To fii^ht our battles; — Frcedum halls him "Great!'' 

*A little stream in the Statn of Delaware, 



96 THE COLONIAD. 

The true, the just, the generous and the brave — 
Just such a friend as Washington would have ! 
Though Congress, with a zealous eye survey'd, 
The noble impulse which the Frank obey'd ; 
Yet, still with open hands the hero flew, 
And fought and bled against the tyrant's crew. 
His pillar on the Atlantic shore should rise, 
As a proud barrier to all monarchies. 

Lord Howe now swoll'n with arrogance and pride, 
O'er all the streams would pour his Hessian tide; 
But dauntless Congress, undismay'd thereat. 
Still held its sessions where at first it sal.* 
Great Washington, encouraged by its smiles, 
March'd o'er the Schuylkill to renew his toils : 
Hence all-united and combin'd in force. 
From thence to Lancaster'^! he bent his course. 
Lord HoAve, meantime, to Warren Tavernl^ drew 
A vast assembly of his Hessian crew. 
Here Freedom's Chieftain and the British met, 
But Heaven's fair face with angry clouds now fret : 
The rushing storm, with fury, here sat in. 
And hush'd the clash of arms, the cannon's din ; 
As if kind Heaven purposely oppos'd 
The swarming Britons, now with fury rous'd ; 
Fierce raged the storm, and swift the waters fell; 
Each army sought a shelter — which was well ! 
The British came with a superior force : 
The Pi'ovincials few — this were their better course ! 
Their powder wet — their guns without a sword ! 
How charge the foe, or how discharge a load? 
Meantime, the Chief despatch'd the faithful Wayne, 
To seek Howe's rear and fret his Hessian train : 
That valiant soldier, to his Chieftain's call, 
Prepared his forces, arm'd with guns and ball : 

* Philadelphia, §In PennsylTania* UA hamlet, 



THE COLONIAD. 97 

On roll'd liis cannon to the scene of strife, 

And met the foe — but at vast loss of life ! 

On, with fell-swoop, now rushed the boastful Howe, 

Where fire or sword must mark his progress now : 

To polished Philadelphia on he swept, 

Where virtue, in his path, her wrongs bewept. 

From thence to Lancaster did Congress haste, 

For fire and sword had laid the country waste. 

Here shielded, in that snug and quiet town, 

By valiant soldiers of a tried renown, 

They there took measures to impede the foe, 

Whose pathway eehod all the notes of woe ! 

Triumphant Howe his forces now divide : 

Part, in the city, spread a havoc wide ; 

Part are in Germantown, five miles from thence;* 

And part at Chester, a convoy's defence ! 

One of these wings the Chieftain deign'd to strike : 

And that at Germantown — an armed dike ; 

Which, once demolish'd where it block'd the way, 

Might lead him smoothly on to victory ! 

Such thoughts now press'd upon his spacious miud ; , 

His plans matur'd — his forces were combin'd : 

The storm determin'd on, he thence pursued 

His mode of operations — thus it brew'd : 

Brave Sullivan and Wayne on Chesnut Hill, 

While Armstrong liu'd its foot, and there kept still : 

A kind of ambush — wlien retreat was made, 

To rise up suddenly and wield the blade. 

Smallwood and Forman, on the "Old York Road,'' 

With cannon were to rake the swarming horde. 

Greene and Stephens were to pierce the town, 

While Stirling's horse f should cut the stragglers down. 

Ere Solus roll'd aside the morning mist, 
A skirmish with Howe's outposts here exist. 

* Philadelphia. t Lord Stirling's cavalry in the American interest. 

7 



98 



THE COLONIAD. 



Down went the guarda — on press'd the troops of Wayne, 

While Sullivan, at large, swept o'er the plain. 

Full ou the town, they through its channel* thread, 

From whom bold Musgrave (Howe commander) fled. 

He, in Chew's house (a massive pile of stone,) 

Had, with five companies, for safety flown; 

From whence, with musketry, they briskly fire, 

' Till Wayne and Sullivan, perforce, retire. 

But here the cannoniers, led on by Wayne, 

Repulsed by musketry, commence again : 

Here Greene and Stephens, with their brave brigade, 

Full in the town, their gallantry display'd : 

A troop of British here obstruct their way — 

A part they capture and a part they slay ; 

But bold Knyphausen, rallying now again, 

Stung with resentment at his troopers slain; 

Ptiish'd in the midst of the progressing foe, 

And led his forces to the charge once more. 

Meantime, a fierce attack on General Greene, 

From Chewe's stone building (an impervious screen,) 

Block'd up each point at which attack had sprung, 

And forced retreat e'en whore a victory hung ! 

Five hundred British f on the field lay slain; 

The Chieftain lost, in kill'd, two hundred men ; 

Five hundred wounded in the bloody fight. 

Four hundred prisoners swept, alas ! from sight. 

From thence to Perkiomen press'd the Chief, 

Whereat recruits were raised for his relief: 

On which to Skippack Creek he bore in force, 

To check the enemy and mark his course. 

Now ou the Delaware the Chief enjoy'd 

A short respite, and block'd its swollen tide; 

Cut ofi' supplies from his triumphant foe, 

Bet^ een the city | and the river's shore. 

*A long street running through it. t According to their officinl returns, 
\ Philadelphia. 



THE COLONIAD. 99 

Meantime two forts the Chieftain plann'd and rear'd: 
One — '' Fort Miffln " — on Mud Isle, appeared; 
And one — " Red Bank," upon the Jersey shore — 
Where o'er the Delaware its cannons roar : 
The first, where its waters with the Schuylkill join; 
The last, on shore, both strength and sweep combine. 
Here the Americans and English warr'd ; 
The first from their forts, the latter on ship-board. 
Here Count Donop with his tough Hessians fell, 
Swept by the Cheiftain's ever-booming shell I 
Again the British with great loss of life, 
Renew, at Mifiiin, their disastrous strife. 
The British being here increased in force. 
The prudent Washington withdrew, in course. 
The ■ while disasters in the North occur. 
Which chafe the British and their plans deter : 
GrATEs, with his forces join'd with private aid, 
Had swept Burgoyne, who o'er the North had sway'd ! 
Now to the South the tide of battle sweeps ; 
Mars from Virginia e'en to Georgia leaps. 
Howe, now defeated on his own high ground ; 
Though great his skill, his plan of battle sound, 
Chaf 'd with throbbing heart, and inly raged 
Like an untamed lion, newly caged. 
O'er all the streams he pours his swarming hive, 
And his dea7' Hessians into dangers drive: 
But all in vain : the unconquerable Chief, 
Stands forth unvanquish'd in a bold "relief! 
Now did the stars of Washington ascend; 
Now did the clouds in glorious sunshine blend; 
Now did the adverse blast its chill withdraw; 
Now did the rays of joy succeed its thraw. 
Now smiles the King of France upon our cause, 
And seals his friendship with his own applause ! 
From this the Brit now dates his prey's escape; 



100 THE COLONIAD. 

Long had be deign'd that prey to take by sap ! 
The generous La Fayette, with open bands, 
Yields all the means his own estate commands ! 
His noble bosom now with glory burns, 
And on its philanthropic pivot turns : 
Shoes for our soldiers, when their feet were bare; 
Clothes to defend them from the icy air; 
All with a lavish hand, with princely grace, 
Bestow'd by him — the chief of all his race.* 

But on, Muse! and let thy tale be done; 
Too long, already, are its fillings spun! 
Now on to Monmouth, (Tor Sir Clinton's there,) 
Where hills must tremble to the iron war ; 
Lord Howe retires from the field of fight. 
The stars of Washington now sliine too bright : 
Northward is the lordly champion borne, 
Where Nova Scotia lifts her brow of stone; 
Ere to Sir Henry he his post resign'd. 
Momentous thoughts yet sooth'd his baffled mind : 
Full on La Fayette lit his lordly eyes! 
Each aspic-orb a pool of venom lies ! 
He whom he deemed had wrung him from his perch. 
Where seated, gazing with carniverous search ! 
Like some fell owl, when in his mousing mood, 
Soft-stealing on the foe he long pursued; 
Anon advances and anon delays, 
Still wildly-staring with a glassy-gaze ; 
So he, at " Barren Hill, " f with like intent. 
Crept, in night's mantle, to the general's | tent. 
His unlooked-for and unperceived advance, 
Was baffled by a bra\ e and bold defence : 

* The Marquis de la Fayette, 
t Name of n place. 
J La Fayette. 



THE COLONIAD. 101 

The Marquis, with his troops,' made their escape 
From his blood-thirsty and malignant rape ! 

Now ure the shores of Delaware alive, 
With Bwarming legions from the Hessian-hive : 
Sir Henry Clinton is the guiding star, 
That pilots o'er the buoyant Delaware: 
Near "Monmouth Court-house"* now his tents arise, 
Upon a hill that near the hamlet lies; 
While Washington o'er Cgryell's I'erry bore, 
And drew his troops up on the- adjacent shore: 
Here these two ^^furies on each other gaze, 
Each fire their valor where in arms they blaze ; 
Each zealous of the merits each may claim : 
Their wreath of glory, an emblazon'd name ! 
The bold Knyphausen with liis troop was there, 
Base Tryon, and Erskine the battle share, 
With swarms of Hessians, like the pests of Nile,t 
Who aid a warfare solely for its spoil. 
Meantime the Chieftain and his aids withdraw, 
And hold a counsel, though his will is law : 
Eighteen in councol, with himself, have met. 
Who in debate, like " conscript fathers," fret : 
•The subject which now stirs each veteran-breast, 
Is — "how attack the foe — what plan is best?" 
Wayne and. Cadwallader, by vote desire, 
At once, on Clinton, to discharge their ire; 
La Fayette, but in part, approves their plan; 
The rest, together with the Chief, refrain. 
The Chieftain, though more potent than the rest, 
Was last to solve the motives of his breast : 
He, with that prudence which had ever swayd, 
Now patiently their plan of battle weigh'd ; 
And, on his present ground, would rather wait, 
Than risk, at such a time, his country's fate : 

* lu New Jersey, t Egypt 



102 THE COLONIAP. 

But if his aid?, Cadwalladeu and Wayne, 

Deem'd that a battle would be fraught with gain, 

To give their ardor all the play it sought, 

He waiv'd the scruples of his private thought ; 

And to ensure the enemy's defeat, 

Would flank his rear, in case he should retreat : 

Hence on the left of Clinton's boldest wing. 

He would a chosen troop proceed to fling; 

And leave its guidan,ce to his friend from France,* 

Who might verge an Englishtown,t and theuce advance 

On Cranbury,t where he might chiefly rest. 

And here gaul or flank the foe, as seem'd best : 

His army's van he would confer on Lee, 

(Five thousand strong) — the friends of Liberty; 

Wayne and Cadwallader each form a wing. 

And to the centre all his baggage bring ; 

And on brave Coelim, he might thence proceed 

To march to battle, whence the foe might lead. 

Ere sprang Aur<ara from her orient bed, 
And shook her golden tresses over head. 
Instant and sudden did Columbia's foe, 
Press through the mist, and leave the Jersey shore.J: 
Due North, through Jersey, now he bends his course. 
In solid columns his efieetive force, 
With ample equipage and stores of war ; 
Their drums, tlieir arms, their plumes and banners awe ! 
Knyphausen, with his troopers led the van, 
(The wilds of Germany had nursed the man; 
He to the British interest was allied, 
Not from its justice but from warlike pride ;) 
Where Clinton's^ baggage, in his charge was placed. 
Between two columns of his horse embraced. 
The army's rear, by Lord Cornwallis led, 
Pressed on to Middletown|| with nervous tread. 

* Marquis de la Fayette. t Villages in New Jersey. 

}0n the 18th of June, ^ Sir Heiiry Clinton. 1| New Jersey. 



THE COLONIAD. 

Meantime the Immortal Chieftain of the Free, 
Despatch'd a courier to his veteran Lee, 
To attack Cornwallis, on whose flank he stood, 
Soon as Sir Henry * had his march renewd. 
Now, faithful to the charge, the general flew. 
Upon Cornwallis, whom he kept in view ; 
While Wayne's division he dis}30sed behind, 
To check Cornwallis as his van he lin'd : 
But ere he could efi"ect the great emprise, 
Sir Henry stood before the general's eyes : 
He, countermarching with his force, combin'd 
With Lord Cornwallls, who his rear had lined. 
This had been done to thwart the valiant Lee, 
And shield Cornwallis in jeopardy. 
Thus thwarted here, and on unequal ground. 
The valiant soldier gazed in thought profound : 
One moment thus — the heights f before him lay; 
To which, with valor, he now forced his way, 
Forth to their rescue great La Fayette came, 
His bosom bounding to the wreaths of fame ; 
While on his Crelim, Freedom's mighty Chief, 
Pranced on, with confidence, in bold relief; 
When lo ! before his eyes, the shameful sight 
Swept o'er his prospocts with a hurtful blight. 
The Chieftain's ire, now from its centre stir'd, 
Was hurl'd on Lee, as thus his troops appear'd. 
His left ivirig now was poised upon a hill, 
Where a morass kept Lord Cornwallis still : 
This, by Lord Stirling, \ was in order form'd. 
While Carrington's artillery bravely storm'd. 
The right wing now Ihe British general^ sought; 
Which, to dismember, he with fury fought; 
But Greene's artillery, meanwhile, drawing near. 
Swept from their front each British musketeer; 

♦Clinton. tNejr MidJIetown, N- J. J On the American side 

§ Cornwallis. 



lo: 



104 THE COLONlAD.r 

While with the horse his infantry engaged, 

And line'd his rear where now the battle raged. 

Here Wayne advanced, and turn'd the poizing scale ; 

Beneath his blows the hardy Britons fail : 

These all, together, now combine their force — 

Bifles, infantry, artillery, horse — 

And drive the British to their vantage-ground; 

Behind a morass, by a hillock crown'd. 

Here, in a wood, the bold invaders pause, 

Glad of respite from death's insatiate jaws : 

Here, from the noon-day sun,* that fiercely glar'd, 

They sought the pleasures that the Zephyrs shar'd. 

But here they could not hope to rest unscath'd, 

The artillery on their flank with fury raved ; 

While the brigades of Woolford f and of Poor,! 

Upon the right and left of Clinton bore. 

Though spent and wasted in the battle's rage, 

Once more the Chief would fain the Brit engage. 

The sun now on his ocean-bed reclin'd, 
And Night her sable brow with shades entwin'd; 
While from the field the Brits convey their dead, 
And heap the clay above each veteran-head ! 
Now in the still and silent hours of night. 
Bold Clinton, hence, pursues his Northern flight; 
To Middletown he bends his lordly way. 
On which he veiges ere the break of day. 
Srill Northward does the lordly general gaze, 
And now at Sandy-Hook his armies blaze ; 
Here taking ships, they thence proceed to York, 
At which, in due time, all his troops debark. 
Eight officers, at Monmouth, yield their lives; 
On Freedom's alter was the sacrifice : 

* The 28th of June, 1778 — the daywas the warmest ever experienced by 
those engaged in the battle. 
t Generals in Washington's army. 



THE COLONIAD. 105 

Sixty privates for their country died — 

These are her jewels in her crown of pride! 

But many a mother o'er the briny-deep, 

Her unreturning son will vainly weep ; 

Many a daughter for a father mourn, 

That wasting war had from her presence torn; 

Many a widow for her husband sigh, 

Now coldly stretched beneath a foreign sky : 

And many a friend his absent friend deplore, 

Now wrapp'd in silence on Columbia's shore. 

Thus did the bloody war at Monmouth end : 

Sir Henry there to Washington must bend ; 

His lofty heart must chafe beneath defeat, 

When from his foe he flies and boards his fleet. 



106 THE COLONIAD. 



BOOK II. 



CANTO XIV . 

Lo on Virginia's coast a fleet appears, 
And lands upon our shores its gallant tars ! 
Brave Laurens first, as charge of all the States, 
Now on D'EsTAiNG, the French Admiral, waits ; 
When, with the Frenchman, he proceeds to hold 
A conference, and his mission thence unfold. 
" gallant minion of a gallant King ! 
I, in Columbia's name, her greetings bring : 
The fair Virginia spreads her ample arras, 
And welcomes thee to all her sylvan charms : 
These ample waters, * thus imbosom'd here. 
Can shield thy fleet from storms that may appear: 
The mountain-tide that sweeps into the main. 
Can bear thy frigates with thy warlike train ; 
Upon its bosom thou canst sweep along, 
And land upon its shores where foes may throng : 
Thy hardy veterans from European wars. 
Can here secure thine own and King's applause ! 
Let not those hardships that, perchance, may rise, 
Deter thy troops in this their grand emprise 1 
We, as thy debtors, can make no return, 
But hearts of gratitude that warmly burn ! 
Thy fleet can waft along the briny flood, 
Columbia's sons wher'er her foes may brood : 

* Hampton Roads, 



THE COLONIAD. 107 

The fair Virginia — first among the States, — 

Her sons have marshall'd, and thy fleet awaits. 

The tide to Jamestown with thy frigates trace ; 

On either side .is spread a sylvan waste, 

Where once the Indian in his wigwam stood, 

Beneath the shadows of a pristine wood. 

A noble river lines its Northern bounds, 

Where fields in harvest spread their teeming grounds : 

Between that river and the James extends 

A region, where a trackless forest bends : 

Through this the Brit will scarcely force his way : 

On towns and humlets he will mostly prey : 

Those near the seaboard he will aim to burn ; 

Your fleet is gallant — be that your concern ! 

E'en now marauding bands infest her shore ; 

Here you may land, and press your gallant corps. 

Their rude incursions in our midst are felt; 

The hand of spoilage upon all is dealt. " 

Brave Laurens ceased; — and then De Estaing said. 

His voice and jesture by his passion led : 

"Most noble soldier! in the name of France, 

I, with my fleet, upon your coast advance : 

My worthy sovereign hath vouchsafed to aid, 

The young republic, of the sylvan shade ; 

And, as a mark of his sincere regard, 

Hath sent twelve ships with arms and men aboard. 

But for the stormy seas that swept my path, 

The boastful Howe, ere this, had felt my wrath. 

I had intended, as my promis'd course, 

To land on Delaware* my naval force; 

Where, joining with your gallant Chief-in-arms, 

We should have swept the Brits and Hessian swarms. 

But, as it was by fate or chance ordain'd, 

That I by stormy seas should be detain'd, 

• The river. 



108 



THE COLONIAD. 



And lose the glorious meed my arms bad brought, 

In battles by your Chieftain lately fought; 

I yet affirm, that I am still prepar'd, 

With my war-vessels and my troops on board, 

Conjointly with your Chieftain's native aid, 

To sweep yon scourgers from your sylvan sliade ! 

Hence, noble Lawrence ! to your Chief, and say — 

My fleet is ready let him point the way. 

The gallant Lawrence waved the Count* adieu, 

And from the beach unto his general flew. 

Arrived at camp, he thence his general sought. 

And on his ears he open'd his report ! 

The general to his Chief the tale unfolds, 

The Chief with Congress thence a conference holds. 

D'EsTAiNG his commission now obtain'd, 

And to Rhode Island was his fleet ordain'd : 

Arrived at Newport, where the British lay. 

Hugely naval'd in Narragansett Bay. 

These Count D'Estaing were to have attack'd, 

By three brave generals f and their forces back'd: 

But Providence, that leads short-sighted man, 

Baised scruples in the mind of Count 'Estaing; 

For he and Sullivan, on etiquette, 

Combat each other, and the plan upset. 

The nervous Frenchman yet disdains to sail, 

And valor over forms of speech prevail : 

His haughty spirit stirs his Gallic blood, 

And shakes with battle Narragansett's| flood; 

The angry waves now toss along the Bay, 

And sweep the vessels that before them lay. 

D'Estaing, on the stormy sea, thus borne, 

Looks back upon the raging Bay with scorn; 

• Count D'Estaing. 

t La Fayette, Greene and Sullivan, 

I The Bay at Newport, Rhode Island. 



THE COLONIAD. 109 

While all his coherts, in the siege, on land, 

Were left to yield, or battle's rage withstand. 

The glowing Indies* to his eyes unfold, 

New fields of valor, deeper tinged with gold; 

And, in his wake, enthusiastic Gray, f 

With five thousand men sailed on his way. 

The siege at Newport now was duly raised, 

With much hard-fighting (which should here be praised.) t 

Meantime bold Clinton through the North had swept,' 

And inark'd a path which he with fury kept; 

Leagued with base Tuyon, and with envy stung, 

He tempted Fate, though thick with dangers hung : 

Swept from New- York e'en to the Georgian realm. 

And sought, forsooth, the South to o'erwhelm, 

Upon the Carolinas lit his eyes, 

Stretch'd in his view beneath congenial skies. 

On these the Lion pats his prurient paw. 

And rests, anon, his sanguinary jaw: 

Where, now and then, in meditative mood, 

His eyes, larcivious, from his brows protrude. 

Around Savannah now his legions form, 

Where Campbell ^ and Prevost ^ conduct the storm ; 

This they besiege with all Ballona's rage. 

Where streams of blood her angry brows assuage. 

The British enter where their colors fly. 

And sweep Savannah with artillery. 

Bold Lincoln 1" now, to win the city back, 

From daring Prevost, guides the brave attack. 

Meantime, D'Estaing, to our shores again. 

Guides his brave fleet o'er the Pacific-plain: 

*The fleet sailed for the West Indies soon after the abortive effort, 

+ A neutral in America who volunteered in the French service 

J 1 have neither time nor space to comment thereon. 

§ British generals. 

IT \n American general stationed at Charleston,;S. C, 



110 THE COLONIAD. 

Here the Experiment, a man-of-war, 

With fifty guQ3, lay anchor'd at his prow : 

A friendly fog that on the coast* prevail'd, 

Wrapp'd in its shroud, the waves o'er which he saiPJ ; 

And, bearing landward on the Georgian coast, 

Touch'd at Savannah, now an English post. 

Th' Experiment her guns discharge in vain 

Upon the fleet of Admiral D'Estaing : 

He formed his line of battle from the shore, 

And swept with Gallic r^ge his English foe; 

Dismantled by his "canister" and "grape,"* 

The Englishman dispair'd of all escape. 

Next on the shore he placed his hardy tars, 

And joined the standard of the Thirteen-Stars. 

Just then bold Lincoln buckled on his blade, 

And joined his own to D'Esting's brigade. 

To Georgia's aid the obedient hero flew, 

And to Savannah all his veterans drew. 

Here D'Estaing his frothy valor eked. 

Which, ere matur'd, had from his fingers leaked. 

With sounding words he now demands the town ; 

And bends his brow, robed in an iron frovvn. 

Full on his aid — who, at his will, withdrew, 

And, on his mission, to the city flew ; 

As if, perforce, his aide-de-camp would eke. 

His tone and jesture when himself should speak ! 

Meantime brave Lincoln with more force than sound, 

A wall of volunteers had drawn around : 

This to Prevost spoke more direct than words, 

Who felt the eloquence of guns and swords ; 

And, while he look'd on 'Estaing with a sneer, 

He gazed on Lincoln with an eye of fear: 

Prevost now meekly ask'd a day of grace, 

Ere he surrender'd to 'Estaing the place. 

* Georgia. 



THE COLONIAD. Ill 

But little Beaufort * now its drones disgorge, 
Who frown on Lincoln and encourage George ! f 
Eight hundred Tories to Savannah came, 
Drawn more by fear than the desire of fame; 
Or, else love of gold, that from Prevost's purse, 
Inflam'd their avarice, which last is worse. 

Now at Savannah war's loud thunders roll ; 
Prevost's new recruits inflame his soul : 
He sets at nought both Lincoln and 'Estaing, 
And presses boldly to the martial-plain. 
Now rings its suburb with the clash of arms \ 
The fierce Prevost each tory-cohort warms ; 
The smitten steel now sparkles in their hands 
And gleamy bay'nets, like a wood extends. 
Now, dashing by, the mounted-ranger bounds, 
Upon his steed, along the battle-grounds ; 
Instinct with soul, he feels his rider's pride ; 
Like him he bleeds — to all of his aliie^ ! 
The cannon's roar, their musket's steady blaze, 
Betokens more than all that thought portrays: 
The war was warm — the foes a lofty race, 
The cause that nerved them each with zeal erabrace : 
These for their king with fury here resist ; 
Those for their rights that in their lives exist. | 
The onslought furious — all the plain is dy'd— 
Savannah trembles, but resists from prj^de; 
Fresh troops are levied, other veterans come; 
Their courage buoyed by the thrilluig drum. 
Here brave 'Estaing his tars to danger leads; 
There Llncqln's valor speaking through his deeds; 
And, each and all, with various courage fought; 
The Georgians losing what brave Lincoln sought. 

*Avillnge in Georgia. 

rge the Tliird of Englantl- 
JTlio itialicnable rights set forth in the Declaration of Independence. 



112 THE COLONIAD. 

Forth to bis fleet the testy Frenchman flew, 

And, hoisting sail, to France he thence withdrew, 

Brave Lincoln, then, to cherish'd Charleston sped, 

To check the invasion hy proud Clinton led. * 

He, through the North, with devastating hand. 

Swept all but valor from its ravaged land ; 

Thence on the South, his eyes of envy bore; 

And, with his fleet, he sought her ardent shore; 

A potent fleet and valiant crews to guide, 

Invested Clinton with a conqueror's pride : 

With such auspices in the South he gazed, 

While on his Eastern coast, his legions blaz'd. 

Forth on Virginia swarms of Hessians pour, 

And spoil by- pillage all her warlike-store; 

Her magazines their wasting hands impair'd, 

While, in the nuisance, all her people shar'd. 

Now, on to Charleston, all her legions bore, 

And, from the ocean, pierce its isthmus-shore, 

On either hand his vessels now divide ; 

On Ashby f these, on Cooper f those preside. 

'Round Charleston, now, he drew a warlike line, 

Where, erelong, on her shores his legions shine. 

Her gallant citizens now fly to arms; 

Brave Lincoln came with voluntary swarms. 

Now, from her harbour, the voice of Mars X is heard, 

The bristling bayonet and the drum appear'd ; 

Rude Boreas frets her storm-invested Bay, 

As if indignant at the Brit's display! ^ 

But furious from the shore, the swarming horde. 

Pour forth, in files, led by their warlike lord ; 

On through the streets they sweep, and win their way 

By force of numbers and disciplin'd sway ; 

The crumbling barricades are thrown aside, 

The cannon rolling forth a fiery tide ; 

♦February 1780. t Rivers of South Carolina. | Canncn. § Clinton. 



THE COLONIAD. 113 

Behiud the houses the oppress'd retire, 

From the incessant and prostrating fire ; 

The "sappers" seek them while the "miners" lead; 

The feeble falter and the valiant bleed. 

When long they battle and expend their rage, 

The Bii«;;, at Charleston, close their boastful siege: 

Now Northward Clinton rolls his eager eyes, 

Where Carolina's piny forests rise. 

And spreads along upon her golden shores, 

Her table-land, •vshere pliant cotton grows. 

Here, with lascivious eyes he gazes now. 

Each optic glaring from a studious brow ; 

Meantime had Congress sent the gallant Gates, 

To guard and animate these drooping States. * 

To Camden all his forces now were drawn, 

Where all that poverty inflicts was borne. 

On either Carolina press'd a paw 

Of that huge Lion, in his island-lair; 

Wliose roar, for distant ages had been heard 

O'er all the islands, to the Cnpe-de- Verd; 

Kesounding now upon Columbia's shore. 

Where native valor on his progress bore: 

BuRGOYNE was shaken from his Northern perch; 

Howe baffled 'till this prey eludes his search ; 

CoRiWVALLis, with his couch and wine in lo.ve, 

W^as less an eagle than a turtle-dove; 

Great Clinton, though he rose a brilliant star, 

Loved fighting less than his supreme " Gulnare :" 

Hence, tihrough impediments that spring uncall'd, 

Hii idle soldiers neigh'd as steeds unstall'd. 

CoRNWALLis woo'd and won by Southern gales, 

At Clinton's will to Charleston city sails : 

Through that fair city, with a lordly stride, 

The hero imitates the courtier's pride ; 

* Xcnh and S&uih Carvhua. 



114 THE COLONIAD. 

Mounts his fair clmriot to inlinle the breeze, 
That ijently woos him from the S(»uthern seas ; 
While, on each side, his dashing warriors bound. 
Swords dancing at their sides with clashing sound: 
The poor Provincials, who in terror rove, 
Gaze, like Caractacus, upon this drove, 
And wonder that a people bless'd at home, 
Through Sylva's groves were thus content to roam 1 
To Staten Island, now Sir Henry leads 
His gallant fleet, with all its laurell'd-deeds ; 
While Washington to fair Virginia wends, 
To hush the storm that settled on his friends. 
Meantime, on Camden, Lord Cornwallis bears 
With veteran forces from the Northern wars. 
Four thousand "strong" the gallant champion led, 
And startled Camden as his banners spread ! 
Bold Gates, with valor, to its rescue came, 
In view of Saratoga's wreath of fame! 
Swift he descended on the Clinton host, 
Who thus, with arrogance, had storm'd his post; 
But vain his valor! he by numbers fell ; 
His army shivered by the sword and shell ! 

Now, SuMPTER, Greene and Marion, each, display, 
Within the South, a lively chivalry ! 
Meantime had Heath and Wayne within the North, 
Each, by the sword, impress'd their valor's worth ; 
One, at West Point, his argument preferr'd, — 
And one, at Stony Point — to George the Third i. 
Both to their Chieftain and their country true, 
With vigilance their country's rights pursue ; 
The while base Arnold, after valiant deeds, 
The ardent Andre into sorrow leads : 
Of one, great Washington deplored the fate ; 
The other, pitied as a base ingrute ! 



THE COLONIAD. 115 

A matricide — in purpose and intent, — 

Whose malice, foiled, secured his banishment. 

The Chieftain met the recreant hero's rage, 

As skilful keepers view a lion's cage! 

He knew his valor — and deplored from thence, 

His base desertion and its consequence. 

Where treachery won from him a faithless friend, 

Heaven, in kindness, would a truer send ! 

The sparkling crest he waved above the Fates, 

Won admiration from European States! 

Fair France her sympathy and aid bestowed, 

And in his cause unsheath'd her knightly sword : 

Smit by the charms that Liberty portray'd, 

An homage to her beauty Monarchs paid : 

Her dove-eyed loveliness sublimely woo'd, 

The ardent rapture of the breast imbrued! 

Their smiles encouraged where their swords were sheath'd, 

And Freedom's laurels were by Monarchs wreath'd ! 

With languid wing I now a compass draw, 
And wave adieu in tliis ray parting glow I 
To Washington, the glorious and the true, 
The first and last that lived within my view: 
The great, the good, the wise, the best, the brave, 
Who saved what he had lived and sought to save ; 
I part with thee as with a dying tone, 
'I'hat, wafted long, had left behind its moan — 
Which, hung within the chambers of my soul, 
Would live forever as the tone would roll! 
Adieu to thee ! the spell that held is gone, 
The waving wing that parts with thee is lone ; 
Princeton was thy jewel — Monmouth was thy crown ; 
3ut what completes thy glory, is thy battle at Yorktown ! 



AN EULOGIUM 



Jfatj^tr of Ijis Ccuntrjr, (tmx^t SSlasIjingfon, 



OF VIRGINIA: 



IN WHICH IS COMPRISED REFLECTIONS 



8UBLIME ATTITUDE OP 

HIS EQUESTRIAN STATUE, 

AND HIS Pr,AIN, GRACEFUL, AND UNPRETENDING MONUMENT, AS IT NOW 
STANDS ON THE VIRGINIA SQUARE, WITH ITS ACCOMPANYING 

ADJUNCTS AND ADORNMENTS. 

Wh'ch Eulogium was Cfcas'oncd by its Consecration 



TWENTY-SECOND OF FEBRUARY, 1858. 
EICHMOND: 



Ye Sons of Freedom i let this day inspire 
In you a reverence for your Country's Sire! 
Let all his valor, all his merits plead, 
In tend ring him this just and seemly meed. 
Wliom Heaven has honor'd, ye may dare to place 
In Glory's Niche— upon this granite base: 
Whom Heaven appointed to itdttm his kind, 
And graced with virtues, both of heart and mind, 
Wc well may elevate, in lawful praise, 
To show our gratitude in future days : 
Whom Patriotism bids in ashes live. 
From all this mark of honor may receive : 
Whom Valor, T'-uth, and Justice, each liave led, 
Alone are fit to he their Nation's Head ! 
This column is Virginia's giateful praise. 
On which her future Sons with pride may gaze ; 
And emulate their worth-recording Sires, 
By recognising then 'NvI at luw inspires : 
Hence gazing from the Statue to the cause, 
[BhaJ, asked of them this mark of their applause ; 
ATid tracing thence a higher source of praise, 
As they like 21s shall on this structure gaze ; 
III Goi?! the bountiful, whose shield was thrown 
Around the man wliom Freemen call their own ! 
Gaze on this Monumknt his valor won ; — 
What sanctifies the pile is — Washington! 
Look from the steed to him the steed now bears ; 
And, gazing farther, thence behold his wars : 
Loolv from the C'lampion to the deeds he wrought, 
And gratitude will curb each adverse tliought; 
Alley each prejudice, and jjut to rest 
The shades of envy that may haunt the breast. 
He needs not this to make his name sublime; 
He lives in ev'ry age — in ev'ry clime! 
Around its base his mighty compeers wait, 
Whom both the forum and the pen made great; 
Beneath its cupula they meekly stoop, 
And rise upon your view a peerles-s group : 



118 AN EULOGIUM. 

On morlcst pedestals tliey first arise, 

The sage and patriot — both the hrave and -wise. 

Tliere Hknry stands and glows in warm debate, 

And shakes the sword where hangs the Freeman's fate : 

His words of fire as kindled in his eye, 

E'en moves us still, although in bronze they vie ! 

The next,— as shadow'd on the scholar's view, — 

The sage whose pen his country's compact drew; 

Whose wisdom digniBed the walks of State, 

And found — what it had sought — the name of great: 

Jkfferson, — the statesman and the sage, — 

The produce of whose pen now guides the age ; 

"Whose name shall live, when adamant shall fail, 

As distant ages catch the glowing tale ! 

His pen of fire, which in his fingers rest, 

Awaits the mighty thoughts that move his breast ; 

While studious he, long by each sentence tin ill 'd, 

That, from his soul, now gushes as distill'd, 

Arranges, in his mind, the sparkling tide 

Which, from its caverns, now momentous glide ! 

And when these stones shall crumble into dust, 

His name shall be as green and as august : 

When Liberty hath built her crowning dome, 

And beckon, thence, her exile children home. 

Here Washington, your Cotintry's Chief, once moBe'i|.: 

Mounts his war-charger, as he faced the foe; 

On CcElim's back the mighty Chief is set. 

And lives, in form, as when that foe he met: ■ 

A sacred fire inflames the Champion's soul. 

As prancing to the charge his war-drums roll ; 

And points the path to freedom in the field. 

Where valor gains what cowardice must yield. 

Now sons of patriots I ye as patriots must 
Turn to Mount Vernon and the heio's dust: 
First to Potomac's consecrated shore, 
Where dwelt the warrior when his wars were o'er: 
Where he pursued the private walks of life, 
Averse to carnage as opposed to strife : 
Contented with the conduct of his farm. 
Wherein his noble soul confess' d a charm ! 
Unmindful of the gilded paths of fame. 
His pride took refuge ill a virtuous name; 



AN EULOGIUM. 119 

More glorying iu the peace his arms had wrought, 
Than all the honors that his prowess brought : 
To see his countnj freed from England^s yoke, 
Her foes all vanquish' d and her fetters broke, 
To him were glories that his uiind confess'd, 
And which.- in war and peace, his deeds express'd. 
While thus retired to Mount Vernon's shade, 
No act of his his countrymen upbraid. 
Well knowing that the wars had left them poor, 
Tlieir treasure wasted on a stubborn foe ; 
And when his cottnirynien would gladly crown, 
Hi:j deeds of merit with a Regal Gown, 
His noble mind, with modesty, demurr'd 
Against such honors as were thus preferred: 
But, forced by them from his rever'd retreat, 
As their Chief Magistrate he took his seat, 
More for their sakes than through Ambition's lure, 
Which had been foiled upon Potomac's shore. 
Eight years, in sopth, he graced the Chair of State — 
Eight tedious years he borelits irksome weight: 
Irksome to him — for he was of a kind 
That dealt no falsehood on the trusting mind; 
Nor paid a generous deed with fiendish wroLg, 
Though virtue is no bar to Slander's tongue : * 
Jffhen these had roll'd away — these years of toil, 
n^ sought Mount Vernon and its cherish'd soil, 
Contented here, within the arms of peace, 
To »ld his hopes up in his farm's increase. 
happy warrior ! and more happy sage. 
Thy Tomb should be the Mecca of each age, 
Where Freedom's champions would inhale the glow 
That nerves to combat each invading foe: 
Thy Tomb should be a Nation's rallying point, 
When demagogues would these fair States dii^joint; 
When base ambition would its ends obtain. 
By lawless paths that lead to private gain : 
When opulence shall tempt the statesmen's eyes. 
To view its gildings through e'en anarchies. 
Virginia claims the honor of his birth — 
He and Virginians. are of kindred earth: 
*Tlie Messiah was the vaial eminent being that erer walked the eartli, yet 
tlie foul breaU) of caluuiny ijou^hl hitu to laiul v/ith ita uiiaauia hia irreprodcljuble 



120 AN EULOGIUM. 

' Tis her's to step forth and redeem the sMot, 
From that neglect which Ions hath betn its lot: 
Preserve from that dficay which fs its shame, . 
And keep the tomb of him "who keeps her tame. 
My Muse, with languid wins, now waves adieu, 
With one more figure that here strikes her view : 
Th' immortal Crawford, whose great soul matur'd, 
This bold concplion, by the brave adord ! 
Though wrapped in silence — his great spirit gone — 
His name vvitli this co-equal will be borne! 
Though absent from his niche, his bust will rise, 
Witii wonted lustre to the painter's eyes, 
When ardent fancy shall, in future, draw 
The ivimortalizer with the immortal corps!* 
Sleep now in peace, if fame rewards thy care, 
Thy name will rise to him who gazes here. 

'.•Washington, JeiTerson. Henry, Lewis, and Cueliia, 
the Eagles, et cetera. 



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